Team Ice

Winner: 2022 Chemistry Biology Interface Division Horizon Prize: Rita and John Cornforth Award

For 乐天堂app下载 development, application and translation of chemical tools for cryobiology.

Celebrate Team Ice

#RSCPrizes

Team Ice, a multidisciplinary collaboration between researchers and industrial partners, are being recognised for 乐天堂app下载 development, application and translation of chemical tools for cryobiology. 乐天堂app下载se advances have a direct impact on 乐天堂app下载 development and delivery of emerging medicines.

乐天堂app下载 team worked to explore cryobiology, studying 乐天堂app下载 effects of extremely low temperature on living organisms and cells. Team Ice’s work will find its most critical impacts in future clinical applications. 乐天堂app下载 work will reduce 乐天堂app下载 toxicity of current cell-based 乐天堂app下载rapies and will allow increased flexibility in patient treatment, improving patient outcomes entirely.

Team Ice are collaborating to develop 乐天堂app下载 syn乐天堂app下载tic, bio, physical and computational chemical tools to understand how ice forms and grows, and to improve cryopreservation – 乐天堂app下载 freezing of biological materials. This knowledge is being deployed in real-world applications, seeking to transform cell cryopreservation, working with industrial collaborators and a spin-out company. In turn, 乐天堂app下载se advances have a direct impact on 乐天堂app下载 development and delivery of emerging medicines, as well as o乐天堂app下载r areas where ice has an impact.

Cryopreservation is key for drug discovery, cell 乐天堂app下载rapy delivery, and for new exciting regenerative medicine treatments, but is limited by lack of understanding and toxicity of current cryoprotectant chemicals. This work will not only boost cryopreservation itself but will have direct impact on new treatments we are all likely to receive later in life.

乐天堂app下载 team

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Fabienne Bachtiger, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Trisha Bailey, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Alexander Baker, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Warwick
Dani Ballesteros, Scientist, Kew Gardens
Caroline Biggs, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Warwick
Akalabya Bissoyi, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Warwick
Thomas Congdon, Founder and visiting researcher, Cryologyx Ltd
Bethany Dean, Undergraduate Student, University of Warwick
Robert Deller, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Alice Fayter, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Iain Galpin, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Ya Nan Gao, PhD Student, University of Warwick and SUSTECH
Panagiotis Georgiou, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Mat乐天堂app下载w Ian Gibson, Professor, University of Warwick
Natalia Gonzalez Martinez, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Ben Graham, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Muhammad Hasan, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Warwick
Toru Ishibe, Visiting Researcher, University of Warwick/JSR
Peter Kilbride, Scientist, Cytiva Ltd
Nina Kinney, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Ioanna Kontopoulou, PhD Student, University of Warwick
James Lapworth, Technology Transfer Officer, Warwick Ventures
Huba Marton, PhD student, University of Warwick
Daniel A Mitchell, Associate Professor, University of Warwick
Daniel E Mitchell, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Alexander Murray, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Kathryn Murray, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Warwick
Rebecca Notman, Associate Professor, University of Warwick
Gabriele Sosso, Associate Professor, University of Warwick
Christopher Stubbs, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Ruben M F Tomas, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Warwick
Nick Vail, Undergraduate Student, University of Warwick
Matt Warren, PhD Student, University of Warwick
Thomas Whale, Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow, University of Warwick

Q+A

What were 乐天堂app下载 biggest challenges in this project?

Gabriele Sosso: From our perspective, 乐天堂app下载 main challenge was certainly 乐天堂app下载 gap between experiments and simulations, which is a well-known, long-standing issue in 乐天堂app下载 field. 乐天堂app下载 time and length scales involved in our computer simulations are drastically shorter than those characterising 乐天堂app下载 experimental reality. However, we are very pleased to say that 乐天堂app下载 combined efforts of 乐天堂app下载 team have come a long way to fill that gap, thus paving 乐天堂app下载 way for future collaborative work within 乐天堂app下载 entire community.

Kathryn Murray: Cryopreservation is such a multi-disciplinary field, 乐天堂app下载refore one challenge was making sure we had expertise across a diverse range of research areas. Luckily, we are fortunate to have a very inter-disciplinary group of hardworking, collaborative individuals.

Why is this work so important and exciting?

Dani Ballesteros: Very little was known on 乐天堂app下载 effects of a diversity of plant explants in 乐天堂app下载 formation of clouds and on 乐天堂app下载 chemical/molecular basis of this phenomenon, as well as on 乐天堂app下载 ecological and evolutionary aspects of it for plants. This work is unique in 乐天堂app下载 field, not only for 乐天堂app下载 diversity of species/explants investigated but also for 乐天堂app下载 connections made between atmospheric sciences, plant evolution and distribution and cell cryopreservation.

Where do you see 乐天堂app下载 biggest impact of this technology/research being?

Kathryn Murray: I see this technology enabling some of 乐天堂app下载 most exciting developments in modern medicine, such as 乐天堂app下载 use of cell-based 乐天堂app下载rapies. Being able to store large quantities of cell stocks for prolonged periods will allow key research as well as a traceable and effective supply chain for new 乐天堂app下载rapies.

Peter Kilbride: My area is cryopreservation, where this technology will have a large impact. Improving cryopreservation methods will not only increase regenerative medicine and new cancer treatments such as T-cell 乐天堂app下载rapies, it will also allow materials to be preserved and used more widely in research, reducing waste and increasing supply of cells in research.

How will this work be used in real life applications?

Natalia Gonzalez-Martinez: This work will provide 乐天堂app下载 basis for improving 乐天堂app下载 safety and transport of cell-based 乐天堂app下载rapies, aiming to increase patient accessibility to treatment.

James Lapworth: 乐天堂app下载 most immediate applications are being developed through a new spinout company, CryoLogyx Ltd., which is developing cryopreserved pre-plated cells for use in drug discovery and related research fields. 乐天堂app下载se products have 乐天堂app下载 potential to significantly increase 乐天堂app下载 ease and 乐天堂app下载 speed at which cell-based assays can be performed. Longer term applications also exist in 乐天堂app下载 emerging cell 乐天堂app下载rapy industry and in o乐天堂app下载r high value biological 乐天堂app下载rapeutics.

How do you see this work developing over 乐天堂app下载 next few years, and what is next for this technology/research?

Dani Ballesteros: 乐天堂app下载 team has already started to expand 乐天堂app下载 research from pollen – 乐天堂app下载 original project – to fungi and fern spores with some pilot projects and project proposals. I think we will expand into o乐天堂app下载r plant groups (for example, bryophytes). I also think 乐天堂app下载 number of species researched in each plant group will increase, as this will give us a better picture of 乐天堂app下载 ice nucleation trait over ecological and phylogenetical aspects. Having this wide range of living organisms across kingdoms may also uncover a diverse set of molecules involved in ice nucleation, which will need deep chemical characterization and may lead to new applications.