What is cryobiology? How is cryobiology changing medicine? How is cryobiology preparing us for space travel? Senior research fellow at the Institute of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine Problems of the NAS of Ukraine, Candidate of Biological Sciences Natalia Trufanova answered these and other questions in an interview with the online publication "Speka.media".
Explaining the concept of cryobiology, the scientist noted: "Cryobiology is a branch of biological science that studies the effects of cold on biological systems of different levels of organization — from subcellular structures such as membranes, nuclei, mitochondria, to cells, tissue-engineered constructs, organs, and even whole organisms. It also seeks ways to protect against the damaging factors of cold."
Cryobiology influences many areas of human activity, such as agriculture, the food industry, and medicine. Natalia Anatoliivna noted that one of the types of cryobiology is cryomedicine, which studies the effectiveness of cryopreserved cells, tissues, and organs for repairing body damage and treating diseases, and seeks ways to use cold in treatment. This includes stopping the heart by cooling the body, which opened the possibility of performing open-heart surgery, and cryodestruction of tumors.
Regarding how cryobiology prepares us for space travel, the scientist emphasized: "Survival of organisms in extreme conditions is another area that may be interesting for space technologies. This year I participated in many conferences, and they seem to reflect the mainstream. At the SLTB 2024 conference, there was a report by an astrobiologist who studies the temperature limits of life for potential existence on other planets. He tested model microorganisms from Earth to understand how they respond to different temperatures."