ERC for Advanced Technologies for Preservation of Biological Systems

ATP-Bio has been established to overcome the core obstacles to biopreservation and accelerate the development and translation of biopreservation technologies. This project will enable biopreservation, i.e. “stopped biological time,” to preserve biological systems across the entire spectrum of complexity–-cells, tissues, organs, and even some whole organisms. It will enable banking of life-saving organs and tissues for transplantation, shipping therapeutic cells around the world, expansion of human cells and tissues available for drug research, and storing germplasm and whole organisms to preserve biodiversity and support aquaculture, among other applications. To realize its objectives, the project will make crucial scientific contributions to cryobiology of biological systems, nanoscience/nanotechnology, thermodynamics of water in heterogeneous biological systems, computational chemistry, and many other fields. ATP-Bio also aims to develop the diverse workforce needed for rapidly growing biopreservation industries and to integrate the technologies into society through robust ethical and regulatory engagement, outreach, internships, sponsored research, and training opportunities.