troyer@ccb.ucsf.edu (John Troyer) (06/16/89)
here's something for all you biostasis people. I heard this on a BBC science program, so I have no references, etc. Trehalose, a disaccharide, seems to be involved in the naturally- occurring biostasis in such organisms as yeast and rotifers. The sugar, having polar groups, takes the place of structural water molecules in hydrogen bonding to macromolecules (proteins, dna) as the water is removed and the organism dries up. All of the biomolecules are preserved in this glass. When water comes in again, the sugar "dissolves" and everything starts running. The hard part is delivering the trehalose (a polar molecule) across cell membranes in organisms that don't do it naturally. I honestly don't remember how they're proposing to do this. In any case, this seems like a much more gentle way of making a glass for biostasis than Drexler's glyceraldehyde in EOC. Maybe we'll have freeze-dried mummies instead of corpsicles? troyer@ccb.ucsf.edu
nanotech@athos.rutgers.edu.UUCP (07/22/89)
The Aug. 2, 1988 message #6 of the cryonics mailing list (on preservation
alternatives) had some references on "sugarstasis":
. . .
The cover article of the Feb. 13, 1988 issue of Science News describes some
microorganisms that survive dessication by forming hydrogen bonds between the
cell membranes and sugars such as trehalose. These microorganisms automatically
come back to life when you add water! Also, the Aug. 29, 1987 Science News
article on vitrification mentioned a combination of vitrification and freeze-
drying enabling room temperature storage of single cells. Freeze-drying whole
organs (or bodies) would be much more difficult and time-consuming, though, so
it's not clear that this approach will ever be a useful alternative to cryonic
suspension.
. . .
- Kevin Q. Brown
...att!ho4cad!kqb
kqb@ho4cad.ATT.COM
Standard Disclaimer := These are my opinions, not my employer's.