Vitrified mouse brain slices briefly regain activity after thaw

German researchers demonstrate that ice-free vitrification can preserve and recover functional activity in mouse brain slices (including hippocampus) after thawing, with intact membranes, preserved mitochondrial activity, near-normal neuronal responses and lasting long-term potentiation for hours. While this marks the first demonstration of revived activity in frozen brain tissue, full brain function restoration and large-scale organ preservation remain out of reach due to ice-crystal damage, osmotic stress and cryoprotectant toxicity; the work hints at potential future applications in disease protection, organ banking and even whole-body cryopreservation, but is limited to slices and short observation windows.