Warwick Blood Freezing Technology Wins Double Accolade

Blood freezing technology, developed at Warwick University has won a coveted prize in the Life Science Category at this years’ RSC Emerging Technologies Competition. Developed by Dr Matthew Gibson, Chemistry department (also an honorary Fellow in the Medical School), the technique uses polyvinyl alcohol to inhibit the growth of ice crystals which would otherwise damage blood cells during freezing and make them unusable.

Unlike other cryopreservation technologies, this system does not require the addition of large amounts of solvent, which must then be removed before the blood can be used. That means the blood can be defrosted and put to use rapidly.

 “This is a really promising technology that could bring enormous benefits to patients requiring blood transfusions or cellular therapies,” said Dr Laura Lane from Warwick Ventures, the University of Warwick’s Technology Commercialisation Company. “Being shortlisted in the RSC Emerging Technologies competition is a great opportunity for the team to demonstrate their work to a wider audience.”  Warwick Ventures has been working with the research team to find commercial partners with the expertise to develop the technique into a clinical application.

Dr Gibson’s project was also granted a Philanthropy Award of £50,000 from Warwick University earlier this year. “The Philanthropy Awards are really exciting as they provide funding for cross-displinary research, which is hard to fund through traditional channels. This award will enable us to take the concept forward from chemistry-based research into clinical applications, working with the Warwick Medical School and local hospitals," he commented.

The research was recently published Nature Communications. For more details visit www2.warwick.ac.uk