X-Message-Number: 18581
Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 10:42:47 -0800 (PST)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: brain preservation

> Message #18576 
> I do have another question...  does anyone have a suggestion for simple 
> chemical or cryopreservation of brains?
>
   The local mortician could inject formaldehyde directly into the brain
to preserve it in the short term. However formaldehyde would not be the
first choice as a chemical fixative. Commercial zinc/alcohol solutions are
far less damaging, but arrangement to have made ahead of time to have
these available. Longterm preservation would need to involve dehydration
as well, since deterioration of tissue still occurs (slowly) in
chemically fixed tissues. There's not much to any of this, but to date
there appears to have been no interest by anybody in pursuing this option.
   There has been a report in the literature on a reversible cross-linking
reagent called 3,3-dithiobispropionidate. (Cryobiology 40: 343-359
2000) Dithioerythritol worked well to reverse this fixation at least for
red blood cells.

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