CryoProtect (ERC Proof of Concept)

In CryoProtect, we will develop a means of cryopreserving cells within multi-well plates allowing them to be shipped to laboratories around the world and thawed only when they are needed for toxicology testing. This will be done by making use of new fundamental knowledge gained from Prof. Ben Murray's ERC starting fellowship (ICE) about how ice forms in clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere. In cryopreservation, cell viability can be greatly enhanced when ice formation is triggered at temperatures just below the ice melting point. In the previous ERC PoC grant (IceControl) we pioneered the use of feldspar as an ice nucleant in cryopreservation applications. In this grant, we extend this work to multiwell plates through the control of the cryopreservation medium.