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

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发使用液氮冷冻保存的技术，以提高面对气候变化、栖息地破坏、污染、近亲繁殖和其他危险的稀有和濒危物种的生物库和生育力保护能力。 目前，大部分冷冻保存工作都是在实验室中进行的，对于许多只存在于野外且不易运输的珍贵物种来说，这可能不是一个可行的解决方案。因此，这一挑战阻碍了建立一个包括地球上所有物种的普遍、全面的生物储存库的进展。此外，生物材料的低温储存，包括野生物种的种质、组织、血液和DNA，提供了广泛的机会，从帮助了解未研究物种的基本生物学到加强保护育种、基因组学和兽医学。 随着未来生命科学和生物技术行业的低温保存市场持续增长，对生物重要标本的低温保存和储存也需要取得进展。I-Corps项目基于低温样品储存平台的开发，该平台提供了一种方便和便携的方法，可以对野生珍稀濒危物种的生物材料进行低温保存。该技术可以智能地检测杜瓦瓶中的剩余制冷剂水平并自动重新填充，从而为现场存储提供可靠，低成本的液氮供应，并消除不断运输大型，重型杜瓦瓶的重大经济负担。拟议的平台由三个不同的，可修改的模块：便携式液氮发生器，传输机制，和“智能”存储杜瓦瓶。便携式液氮发生器设计的一个关键特征是使用热电Peltier模块进行冷却。与体积庞大的分馏设备相比，这种设计为液氮生成提供了一种轻便便携的解决方案。预计这种设计可能会优化现场工作，收集的样品需要立即冷冻保存之前被转移到一个长期的低温储存设施。该技术也可以应用于需要低容量低温保存的地点。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.