About This Project
Boston-based scientists are bootstrapping research on cryoopreservation of fish eggs. The technology that started to be developed with the initial idea of sending humans to Mars and growing fish on the way there, can now have a great impact on Earth. Cryoopreservation of fish eggs will be used to preserve wild species that are critically endangered, allowing for natural biodiversity on the planet, and to revolutionize aquaculture, improving the food security for generations to come.Ask the Scientists
Join The DiscussionWhat is the context of this research?
We are developing a novel technology to cryopreserve, or freeze, fish eggs, so that they can be hatched and thawed after being frozen for long periods of time.
Previous attempts at cryopreservation of fish eggs have failed because of a complex membrane that protects the eggs from external chemicals in the harsh wild environment. This membrane does not allow the cryooprotectant to penetrate the cell and without the cryooprotectant the cell does not survive the freezing process. Our technology temporarily disrupts the membrane allowing cryooprotectant to enter the cell such that the eggs can be successfully frozen for long periods of time.
What is the significance of this project?
The origins of the technology were related to a project for sending humans to Mars. The designers of the project were interested in sending frozen fish eggs and fish sperm to grow fish in space on the way to Mars. I found out that it was impossible to freeze fish eggs, even here on Earth, as well as in space. I spent the last five years trying to develop a method such that it would become possible to freeze fish eggs.
Freezing fish eggs would have a great impact on humanity. It would enable not only sending them to space, so that it would be possible to grow fish during space flights to Mars, but also improve life on Earth. Cryoopreservation of fish eggs will enable the conservation of critically endangered fish species or species that no longer exist in the wild, ensuring better biodiversity on the planet and bringing species back from the brink of extinction. It would also significantly improve the efficiency of aquaculture industry and improve food security on the planet.
What are the goals of the project?
The major bottleneck in previous research looking at trying to cryoopreserve fish eggs has been relating to permeability barrier of the egg to the cryooprotectant liquid that is needed to successfully cryoopreserve the egg. We have developed several technologies increasing the permeability of the egg such that we can get the cryoprotectant inside the egg.
With the funds will do characterization of the permeability changes of the egg that result from our method. This will allow us to make sure that we are getting the required concentrations of cryooprotectant in the egg so that it can be successfully frozen.
Budget
To characterize egg permeability changes we would run a high throughput High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), which is the industry standard for quantifying the amount of substance in a sample. We will be using Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) as a cryooprotectant.
Meet the Team
Affiliates
M.S., Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011
B.S., Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, 2007
Team Bio
Alex is a doctoral candidate in the department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has experience doing research in a variety of labs, working on everything from machine learning algorithms to extracting RNA from plants grown on the International Space Station. He has extensive knowledge of statistics and experimental design, and has conducted numerous experiments in a variety of settings. Alex holds a bachelors in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from the University of Florida with a minor in Biomechanics. He received a masters degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Alexander Stimpson
Alex is a doctoral candidate in the department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has experience doing research in a variety of labs, working on everything from machine learning algorithms to extracting RNA from plants grown on the International Space Station. He has extensive knowledge of statistics and experimental design, and has conducted numerous experiments in a variety of settings. Alex holds a bachelors in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from the University of Florida with a minor in Biomechanics. He received a masters degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Lab Notes
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