Why Cryopreservation is No Longer Science Fiction with Until Co-founder and CEO Laura Deming
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
This episode features Laura Deming, CEO and co-founder of biotech startup Until, discussing the fascinating world of reversible cryopreservation with host Sarah Guo. (00:00) Deming explains how her company is developing technology to "press pause" on biological time, starting with human organs for transplant patients and eventually scaling to whole body medical hibernation. (02:30) The conversation covers the scientific challenges of preventing ice formation during freezing, the engineering solutions being developed, and the potential to revolutionize critical care by giving patients more time to access life-saving treatments. (07:35)
• Core themes: Reversible cryopreservation technology, organ transplantation improvements, medical hibernation possibilities, and the intersection of engineering and biology in solving complex medical challenges.
Speakers
Laura Deming
Laura Deming is the CEO and co-founder of Until, a biotech startup focused on reversible cryopreservation technology. She previously founded the Longevity Fund, one of the first venture capital funds dedicated to aging and longevity research. Deming was a Thiel Fellow and has been a prominent advocate for treating aging as a medical condition worthy of research and investment.
Sarah Guo
Sarah Guo is a venture capitalist and the host of the No Priors podcast. She focuses on technology investments and has extensive experience in evaluating emerging technologies and their potential market applications.
Key Takeaways
Ice Formation is Controllable Through Engineering
The biggest technical challenge in cryopreservation is preventing ice formation, which damages tissue when water expands. (13:12) However, ice formation is a stochastic (random) process that can be modulated through engineering solutions. By controlling cooling and rewarming rates and minimizing time spent in dangerous temperature zones, scientists can significantly reduce the probability of ice formation. This represents a fundamental shift from viewing cryopreservation as purely a biological problem to one where engineering tools can provide substantial leverage.
Cryopreservation Technology Already Works at Small Scale
Human embryos have been successfully cryopreserved and rewarmed after 30+ years, resulting in viable pregnancies and healthy children. (14:18) This proves that reversible cryopreservation is not science fiction but established science. The main challenge is scaling this technology from microscopic embryos to complex organ systems and eventually whole bodies. This existing success provides a strong foundation for believing larger-scale applications are achievable.
Engineering and Biology Can Be Traded Off
Unlike most biological problems, cryopreservation allows researchers to trade engineering complexity for biological complexity. (15:37) Better engineering tools for controlling temperature, perfusion, and chemical distribution can reduce the biological stress on tissues. This unique characteristic gives researchers multiple pathways to solve problems and provides significant leverage that doesn't exist in most other areas of medicine.
Current Organ Transplant System is Inefficient
Transplant patients must stay within a two-hour radius of transplant centers with pagers, essentially living under "house arrest" while waiting for organs. (27:08) Surgeons often charter private jets to retrieve organs and perform surgery immediately upon return, sometimes staying up all night. Making time "not a variable" through cryopreservation could transform this entire system, allowing for better matching, planning, and patient care.
Temperature Provides Unique Leverage in Biology
Temperature is one of the few high-level parameters that allows precise control over molecular-scale processes in biological systems. (16:57) This gives researchers the ability to apply physics-based theoretical frameworks to biological problems, which is extremely rare in medicine. By manipulating temperature, scientists can effectively control the "passage of time" at the molecular level, providing unprecedented control over biological processes.
Statistics & Facts
- Human embryos have been successfully cryopreserved for over 30 years and then used to create viable pregnancies, with children born from embryos frozen for three decades. (14:18) This demonstrates the long-term viability of cryopreservation technology.
- Metastatic melanoma went from having a 6-9 month prognosis to potentially decades of survival with new combination immunotherapies, often within a single year of treatment development. (08:19) This illustrates how rapidly medical breakthroughs can transform terminal diagnoses.
- Ice formation stops happening below approximately -130°C (-202°F), creating a safe temperature zone where biological tissue can be stored indefinitely without damage. (13:49) This provides a clear technical target for cryopreservation protocols.
