I-Corps: Cryogenic Sample Storage Platform for Environmental and Wildlife Conservation

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of technology using liquid nitrogen cryopreservation to improve capabilities in biobanking and fertility preservation of rare and endangered species in the face of climate change, habitat destruction, pollution, inbreeding, and other dangers. Currently, most of the cryopreservation work is performed in the lab, which may not be a feasible solution for many valuable species that exist only in the wild and cannot be easily transported. Consequently, this challenge has impeded the progress of establishing a universal, all-comprehensive biorepository that includes all species on the planet Earth. Further, cryo-storage of biomaterials, including germplasm, tissue, blood and DNA from wildlife species, offers broad opportunities from helping to understand the fundamental biology of unstudied species to enhanced conservation breeding, genomics and veterinary medicine. As the cryopreservation market continues to grow in the life sciences and biotechnology industries in the future, advances are needed for cryogenically preserving and storing biologically important specimens.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a cryogenic sample storage platform that provides a convenient and portable method to cryogenically preserve biomaterials from rare and endangered species in the wild. The proposed technology smartly senses the remaining level of cryogen in a dewar and refills it automatically, thereby providing a reliable, low-effort supply of liquid nitrogen for on-site storage and eliminating the significant financial burden of constantly shipping large, heavy dewars. The proposed platform consists of three distinct, modifiable modules: a portable liquid nitrogen generator, a transferring mechanism, and a “smart” storage dewar. A key feature of the portable liquid nitrogen generation design is the use of thermoelectric Peltier modules for cooling. This design provides a lightweight and portable solution for liquid nitrogen generation compared to bulky fractional distillation equipment. It is expected that this design may be optimized for field work where collected samples need to be cryopreserved immediately before being transferred to a long-term cryogenic storage facility. The technology also may have application at sites with a need for low volume cryopreservation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.