LONGECITY

I know this isn't strictly related to cryonics but does anyone know if there's any commercial facilities in the UK that would cheaply store tissue samples while keeping them biologically viable?

I'm aware of some storing eggs and sperm for set periods of time, but I am looking to store samples of skin cells (both my own and a pet cat's - until cloning the cat is more affordable).

Hmm, I did a Google search, and I didn't see any that came up. A lot of cryogenic equipment providers showed up, however. I don't know how feasible it would be for you to do it yourself if you bought some equipment.

Liquid nitrogen suppliers seem to charge insane amounts for delivery - I have already looked into this.

Until cat cloning becomes cheaper, dry ice will do. Until you need to collect your tissue, liquid nitrogen will be cheaper. You can also send the cat tissue on dry ice to gsc, they offer cheap professional storage to secure you as future customer.

Looking at gsc's site it looks like they want tissue samples to be sent on water ice. Surely the cells lose viability at dry ice temperature without cryoprotectants? I would imagine that most vets would not be able to add cryoprotectants to the tissue. I also doubt that I personally would be competent to do this properly either if I was to attempt storage at home (on top of the issue of getting dry ice or liquid nitrogen delivered - which is quite expensive).

I am assuming you are a member of Alcor, Gareth? I know that the Cryonics Institue offers free tissue storage for members: http://www.cryonics.org/dna.html

Not sure if Alcor does anything similar

GSC is what you want. Neither cryonics organization does storage of tissue samples using cryoprotectant.

Neither cryonics organization does storage of tissue samples using cryoprotectant.

not even a little glycerol? geeze, why not?

I am assuming you are a member of Alcor]http://www.cryonics.org/dna.html[/URL]

Not sure if Alcor does anything similar

I'm waiting for the life insurance to be sorted out before sending off the application to Alcor.

Regarding dry ice shipping to GSC - would the samples not lose viability without any cryoprotectants? I could imagine also that shipping on water ice may not be suitable either.

If they say wet ice, better do wet ice...

Regarding dry ice shipping to GSC - would the samples not lose viability without any cryoprotectants?

Yes. Do what the company tells you. Ship on water ice by the fastest courier you can get. Synchronize your sampling time with courier deadlines to minimize time on ice. Also,

* Make sure the ice you place the sample in is already melting so that it is at 0 degC. This is best done by bagging ice cubes that have been floating in water rather than taking ice directly out of a freezer. If you use ice directly from the freezer, it will be below 0 degC, and it will freeze your sample.

* DO NOT directly expose your sample to any water or ice. The absence of salts in ordinary water will cause cells to explode. Bag your sample. Double bag the ice, and surround your sample with it. And then make sure the whole thing is inside some kind of spill-proof container. GSC may have a kit for doing all this.

To answer Justin's question, one reason that cryonics organizations that accept tissue samples might not use cryoprotectant is to avoid any pretense of viable preservation (as opposed to simple DNA preservation).