What is the fastest way to freeze something without damaging the cellular structure?

This post has 5 comments

• 
  metal_rader
  August 27th, 2008

  liquid nitrogen maybe, and its really fast…

  i think

• 
  koolksmart55
  August 28th, 2008

  It has to be instantly if it’s organic. Something like a flash freeze. The time varies.

• 
  Steven G
  August 30th, 2008

  Using liquid nitrogen (b.p. = 77 K = -196 °C = -321 °F) is almost instantaneous.

• 
  Chris S
  September 1st, 2008

  Liquid Nitrogen is the best thing to use, it will freeze substances very very quickly, and conveniently too.

• 
  Sehr_Klug 50
  September 1st, 2008

  In your question, the anwer is quite simple….freeze in seconds the living tissue, until it becomes rock solid….now regarding the NON DAMAGING part of the question, well, thats a different chapter….most researchers nowadays, are using either purified glycerol or glycerol monoiphosphate added to the cells of the prospect tissue to be frozen, for one reason:
  Once you thaw tha frozen tissue, the problem arises from the fact, that the structure of the proteins has changed,,,,,Once crystals of protein have formed, the defrosting process, can yield denatured and useless non livable proteins…/the hydrogen bonds, the electrostatic liknks and the electrovalent links between molecules, is lost once frozen)

  That is why, people that want ( or the desire is) to survive by the cryogenic methods, manily freezing by liquid nytrogen, do so, because they trust that in the near future, a method will be deviced, so that thawing will not destroy the cellular protein structure….something that until now, science has been unable to do….
  By adding glycerol (purified) and glycerol compounds, the hope is to preserve and protect at maximun the tertiary and quaternary structures of complex proteines (most of them, active enzymes, that are indispensable for mantaining life)
  However, lets be sincere, we are far away from that achievement……some experiments to freeze and defrost of several organisms (frogs, small reptiles, turtles etc) have only rendered dead animals once the freezing has been reversed by slow thawing or quick one….

What is Your Opinion?