Nature knows best: mimicking natural cryoprotectants for preserving cell-based assays

Tom Congdon (left) is the CEO and Co-Founder of CryoLogyx (Coventry, UK), a University of Warwick (UK) spinout that develops technology for cryopreservation of cell-based assays and novel cryoprotectants. When Tom started his PhD, he was investigating how the natural freezing process compared to the scientific freezing process used throughout the life sciences for sample and reagent preservation. In the life sciences, small molecules and solvents are used for cryopreservation with reasonably high efficacy; however, they're highly toxic. Tom shares that while this approach was fine back in the day for immortalized cell lines and the like, now people are...