Towards Anhydrous Preservation: Osmotic Analysis of Cell Drying

Dry preservation involves removing water from a sample so that molecular mobility is decreased and degradative biochemical processes are slowed. Recently this approach has been explored as an energy-efficient alternative to cryopreservation of mammalian cells. Hurdles to the successful dry preservation of cells include quantification problems associated with non-uniform dehydration processes and the high sensitivity of mammalian cells to osmotic stress.