Rapid joule heating improves vitrification based cryopreservation

Cryopreservation by vitrification has far-reaching implications. However, rewarming techniques that are rapid and scalable (both in throughput and biosystem size) for low concentrations of cryoprotective agent (CPA) for reduced toxicity are lacking, limiting the potential for translation. Here, we introduce a joule heating–based platform technology, whereby biosystems are rapidly rewarmed by contact with an electrical conductor that is fed a voltage pulse. We demonstrate successful cryopreservation of three model biosystems with thicknesses across three orders of magnitude, including adherent cells (~4 µm), Drosophila melanogaster embryos (~50 µm) and rat kidney slices (~1.2 mm) using low CPA concentrations (2–4 M). Using tunable voltage pulse widths from 10 µs to 100 ms, numerical simulation predicts that warming rates from 5 × 104 to 6 × 108 °C/min can be achieved. Altogether, our results present a general solution to the cryopreservation of a broad spectrum of cellular, organismal and tissue-based biosystems.