Twenty-First Century Medicine

From ArticleWorld

Twenty-First Century Medicine is a California based research company which focuses on technology for the cryopreservation of human organs. The major area of research currently is the development of vitrification methods for long-term preservation. Some successes have been the recent vitrification of a rabbit kidney at -135ºC which was transplanted upon rewarming with complete functionality into a rabbit. The new technologies in cryopreservation and the use of vitrification are making it possible in the near future to preserve human organs for long periods of time that can be used in transplant.

Cryopreservation

This is where cells or whole tissues are cooled to temperatures between -80°C to -196°C in order to preserve them for future use. These temperatures cause all biological activities to cease and therefore the processes that result in the cell death are also curtailed. A problem however arises that when the cells are cooled to these low temperatures as damage can occur. The cell make be damged in the cooling process as well as in the warming process. Damages to the cells include:

• Solution effects – caused by concentration of solutes during freezing.
• Extracellular ice formation – where tissues that are cooled slowly experience the problem of water leaving the cell and being frozen in the extracellular space.
• Intracellular ice formation – which is fatal to cells.
• Dehydration of cell – where water exits the cell and causes stress to the cell.

These damages can be avoided by the use of vitrification.

Vitrification

This process converts a material into a glass-like solid that is free from any crystalline structures. This process is accomplished by the quick removal of heat or the addition of heat. Certain additives may also be used to achieve vitrification. The additives used in the process of vitrification are referred to as cryoprotectants. Some of these are also produced naturally by organisms living in polar regions to avoid ice formation in their bodies. Glycerol has found applications in the field of cryobiology but it cannot preserve entire organs without damage. This is where Twenty-first Century Medicine has come in as they are focused on finding possible vitrification methods that can make possible bulk cryogenic storage of organs for transplant.