[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6065\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EThe antifreeze fish teaching us about cryopreservation\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the biggest challenges of cryopreservation is the formation of ice during the freezing process, as the crystals can rupture cell walls and damage the frozen organism.\u0026nbsp;To investigate how these crystals can be prevented, the EU-funded CRYOPRESERVATION project has turned to fish that live in sub-zero temperatures to find out how specialised antifreeze proteins prevent their blood from turning to ice.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Their blood is super cooled \u2013 there should be lethal ice inside them,\u2019 said Dr Ido Braslavsky at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who recevied a EUR 1.5 million grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for the project. \u0027But any ice crystals that do form in their body grow no further and don\u2019t harm the fish.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Braslavsky and his team are studying these antifreeze proteins to see if they can be used for food preservation and for the preservation of living organisms in general. So far, the proteins\u0026nbsp;have been found in many fish which live in cold conditions, as well as in insects, plants, algae and bacteria, in which they prevent ice growth and the crystallisation of organic fluid matter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are studying the detail of the interactions between antifreeze proteins\u0026nbsp;and ice crystals at the molecular level by labelling the proteins with fluorescent tags to make them visible with a fluorescence microscope. They are looking in particular at hyperactive antifreeze proteins\u0026nbsp;\u2013 highly active forms of the protein which haven\u2019t yet been widely investigated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018With cryopreservation, at -196\u00b0C, the temperature is low enough to halt all metabolic, physical, and chemical processes.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Bart Panis, Bioversity International, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u2018We\u2019re trying to find a good way to produce and purify them,\u2019 said Dr Braslavsky. \u2018The first step is to produce enough for research and then the next step will be to ramp up the production to a higher level, but we\u2019re not there yet.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere is currently only one commercial application of antifreeze proteins. Unilever has been using the proteins since 2009 to produce low-fat ice cream that remains smooth and creamy. Originally sourced from a North Atlantic fish known as an eelpout and now commercially manufactured by the company, this added ingredient changes the shape of the ice crystals to form needle-like structures, which stabilise the structure of the ice cream.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers believe that knowing more about how antifreeze proteins work would enable the technology to be used for many more applications than ice cream. Further advances in understanding antifreeze proteins\u0026nbsp;could be the catalyst for a cryopreservation revolution, helping to perfectly preserve the genetic diversity of foodstuffs and improve the quality of frozen and chilled food products.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPreserving genetic diversity\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFuture genetic diversity is also being protected through the long-term freezing of plants and seeds. At the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Arctic, 4.5 million seed samples from the world\u2019s crop collections are frozen and stored at -18\u00b0C. The vault is designed to secure global food sources by acting as a back-up to seed banks in case specimens are lost through war, accidents or natural disasters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, not all plant material can be preserved at this temperature, which is where cryopreservation comes in.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Seed storage is quite easy for many plants,\u2019 said Dr Bart Panis, whose lab at Bioversity International, based at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium,\u0026nbsp;specialises in cryopreserving bananas.\u0026nbsp;\u2018You dry out the seed a little, and then you can store it at around -20\u00b0C. But at this temperature, there is still some deterioration, and the seed can age in as little as 20 years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018With cryopreservation, at -196\u00b0C, the temperature is low enough to halt all metabolic, physical, and chemical processes. Whether you store it in liquid nitrogen for one minute or 100 years, it should remain the same.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, it is a labour intensive process. One technician working in Dr Panis\u2019 lab when trained \u2018very well and working very efficiently\u2019 can cryopreserve about 50 plants a year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt is therefore only used for those cases in which seeds cannot be stored, such as sterile plants which don\u2019t produce seeds, plants in which the seed itself isn\u2019t storable - for example, rubber and oil palm - or plants that are vegetatively propagated by tubers and stems such as potato and cassava. However, if the\u0026nbsp;CRYOPRESERVATION project is successful, this technique could become more widespread.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Panis and his colleagues care for the world\u2019s biggest banana collection \u2013 a tricky crop to freeze because of its high water content and preference for tropical climates. To solve the problem, his lab has pioneered a cryopreservation technique called droplet vitrification, which turns liquids into a glass-like substance, free from ice crystals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018You need to extract enough water so that the cells vitrify when you expose them to liquid nitrogen,\u2019 he said. \u2018Vitrification means the solidification of a liquid without the formation of ice crystals. You need high concentrations of the solution and a rapid freezing rate. That\u2019s the trick.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDroplet vitrification is used to freeze the banana\u2019s meristem tip, the one millimetre-wide growth centre of the plant, which can be regenerated to create an entire new plant. The same technique is now used for the cryopreservation of 20 to 30 plant species, including Peru\u2019s potato collections and Colombia\u2019s cassava collections.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUntil faster technology is developed, the main bottleneck to preserving the world\u0027s plants is time. So far, Dr Panis\u2019 lab\u0026nbsp;has 900 banana accessions successfully stored in liquid nitrogen \u2013 an effort that represents 18 working years \u2013 and there are another 600 to go.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-9-m67ddu8ir6knyeo0tib8gnf65lbpvlrpb9pzlvz9s\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-9-M67DDu8IR6kNYEO0tIB8gNf65lbPVLRPb9PZLVz9s\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]