Researchers Making Freezable Fruit Flies, and Eventually Human Cells That Can Survive Low Temperatures

By Clay Dillow Posted 08.19.2010 at 1:00 pm 5 Comments

Freezing the Drosophila Fruit Fly Sanja565658 via Wikimedia

Researchers at Rutgers are trying to freeze fruit flies, but this isn't just some reaction to summer boredom in the biology lab. They are trying to freeze the summertime pests while keeping them alive to learn how to control the internal thermostats of living organisms. If they can figure out how to engineer cold-tolerant flies they should be able to do the same for human cells, and that could lead to extended shelf life for donated human organs.

The fruit fly Drosophila is an ideal candidate for such research because of it's complex genetic system, and researchers are trying to figure out how to flip the genetic switch that turns off their susceptibility to cold. The answer exists in an enzyme called AMP phosphate that Rutgers-Camden professor Daniel Shain discovered in glacier-dwelling ice worms. That key enzyme regulates the ice worms' body energy levels, letting them not only withstand the brutal cold, but to thrive in it.

Creating cold-resistant fruit flies requires a greater genetic trick, but researchers at Rutgers-Camden and their graduate and undergraduate students are observing how all kinds of organisms, from bacteria to algae, flourish in cold climates. If those organisms can do it, human cells should be able to pull it off as well.

The idea is coax human cells to live for longer periods on ice. Right now, 24 hours is about the maximum duration an organ can remain viable once removed from the body. If extensive transit or operating preparation is necessary, the organ might not make it, in which case the patient might not either.

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5 Comments

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Yaz

08/19/10 at 2:57 pm

In other news, stock prices of the popular bug spray OFF have shot up in recent months as flies and other bugs start breeding year-round.

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elitemjv

08/19/10 at 3:41 pm

My dreams of becoming Mr.Freeze were born today.

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BassiveMalls

08/19/10 at 11:46 pm

Does this mean I can finally put my brain on ice?

Wake me up when we all live to be 1'000 are all models and everyone has an IQ over 200.

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Oakspar77777

08/20/10 at 12:44 pm

BassiveMalls - Funny name - we don't get enough BM jokes around here.

If everyone was a model with a 200 IQ and 1,000 year life span, why bother bringing you back? You ignorance (both in IQ and from being out of touch for so long), your shortened lifespat (surely 1000 years requires some work from (pre)conception), and looks would make you little more than a museam piece fit for a zoo in such a world.

Then again, book me the cage next door - since it sounds like the view from the zoo is good.

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BassiveMalls

08/22/10 at 6:33 pm

@Oakspar77777 My brain is the only thing on ice at that point. The scientists will construct an entirely new body for my brain and that would solve both the model and lifespan problems.
The IQ problem is a bit trickier. Yes by then I will seem rather stupid in comparison, but I don't need my entire brain to remain myself. Just my memories and my personality. Perhaps they could transfer this qualities to a smarter brain for me. By then, they could do this with ease.

Maybe 2'500 A.D. Does that sound about right?

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