CurtAdams@aol.com wrote:
> Vladmir Gelfand did this (for other purposes) while trying
> to preserve a melanin-producing cell line. Freezing pops
> the melanin-containing organelles and the release of
> melanin kills the cells somehow. He put the cells through
> several freeze-thaw cycles; he ended up with a line that
> adapted by making very little melanin (grey cells, he calls
> them.) So it's definitely *possible*, although melanophores
> are a bit odd freezing-wise.
Uh oh, now visions of real grey goo, grey aliens.... ;)
>
>
> It might be interesting to see if HeLa cells or some other
> such workhorse has already developed such tendencies (i.e.
> compare an old frozen line to one that's been through lots
> of cycles)
>
> >The hard part is to do this in vivo rather than in vitro,
> >since we want cryoprotectant mechanisms that work on tissues rather
> >than single cells.
>
> I think a cryopreservation trick might be useful even if
> you couldn't do full-tissue preservation with that one trick.
> It's a pretty cheap and painless experiment, anyway.
>
> P.S.: The problems with melanophore freezing apply to
> human melanophores too. A successfully revived corpsicle
> might end up an albino even if the other problems were
> successfully resolved.
Not good if the ozone layer is gonna get wiped out.... nor very good if
your going to work in space...
Mike Lorrey
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 27 2000 - 14:03:45 MDT