Question: Wouldn't your research help with the research they are doing in america, about bringing a person 'back to life'? (You know the one where they freeze bodies, and are now trying to find something to repair the damaged cells )

Natalie Stanford answered on 17 Mar 2010:

I don’t know so much about Cryogenic Freezing to be honest, but I suppose the type of work I do could be used for such purposes. I think the main problem with freezing cells wouldn’t be changes to the metabolism, though. The metabolism is a set of chemical reactions, when you subject chemical reactions to really cold temperatures they just pause until the heat rises and then they get enough energy to start working again. I think the problems with cryogenic freezing are more to do with cell rupture. Cells contain a lot of water, when you freeze water it expands. this causes the cell membrane (which holds it together) to stretch and rupture. When you return the cells to a normal temperature the water melts and the ruptured membranes can no longer support the contents of the cell so it spills out and the cell can’t function anymore. It’s a bit like filling a balloon with water, it has a nice structure whilst the outside of the balloon is undamaged but if you poke a hole into the balloon all the water leaks out and it’s not the same anymore.