Science and progress
What the data show so far.
Key results from the founding team's published and preprint research, with labels showing what has completed peer review.
Key results
Preprint
Viability and recovery
Viability after vitrification and rewarming was 93.6 ± 2.2% for human islets and 92.7 ± 2.2% for human stem cell-derived islets. Recovery was 92.9 ± 1.4% and 93.5 ± 3.3%, respectively.
Source: bioRxiv, 2026, Fig. 3B.
Preprint
Function
Function was confirmed in vitro and in vivo.
Preprint; 2-year data unpublished
Long-term storage
Human islets stored for up to one year restored normoglycemia in diabetic mice. Storage of up to two years has been demonstrated in unpublished data.
Published and unpublished
Species and islet types
Demonstrated with human islets and human stem cell-derived islets, as well as porcine and mouse islets; non-human primate islets in unpublished studies.
Results from a preprint that has not yet completed peer review. Preprint: Rao JS, Guo Z, Khashim Z, et al.; Etheridge ML, Bischof JC, Finger EB, Clinical-grade cryopreservation unlocks transplant-ready human pancreatic and stem cell-derived islets for diabetes therapy.
Publications
Selected publications.
- bioRxiv, 2026Preprint
Clinical-grade cryopreservation unlocks transplant-ready human pancreatic and stem cell-derived islets for diabetes therapy
Rao JS, Guo Z, Khashim Z, et al.; Etheridge ML, Bischof JC, Finger EB
CryoMesh preserves human and stem cell-derived islets at clinical scale; human islets stored up to one year restored normoglycemia in diabetic mice.
- Bioengineering & Translational Medicine 11:e70045, 2025
Vitrification and rapid rewarming of precision-cut liver slices for pharmacological and biomedical research
Ramesh S, Rao JS, Namsrai BE, et al.; Etheridge ML, Pruett TL, Finger EB, Bischof JC
Rat precision-cut liver slices vitrified on a polymer cryomesh kept viability, morphology, function, and drug toxicity response over 3 days of culture, comparable to untreated controls and better than conventional cryopreservation.
- Advanced Science 11:2303317, 2024
Conduction-dominated cryomesh for organism vitrification
Guo Z, Zuchowicz N, Bouwmeester J, et al.; Etheridge ML, Finger EB, Hays TS, Hagedorn M, Bischof JC
A thermally conductive cryomesh design that increases cooling rates for vitrification of small organisms, including coral larvae and Drosophila and zebrafish embryos.
- Annual Review of Heat Transfer 27:195-244, 2024
Enhanced heat transfer for improved ice-free cryopreservation: interplay between cooling and rewarming
Guo Z, Zhan L, Finger EB, Hays TS, Toner M, Bischof JC
A review of heat transfer in vitrification and rewarming, including CryoMesh for islets, tissue slices, and small organisms.
- Nature Medicine 28:798-808, 2022
Pancreatic islet cryopreservation by vitrification achieves high viability, function, recovery and clinical scalability for transplantation
Zhan L, Rao JS, Sethia N, et al.; Etheridge M, Peterson QP, Dutcher CS, Bischof JC, Finger EB
The foundational CryoMesh study: vitrification of mouse, porcine, human, and stem cell-derived islets with high viability, recovery, and function.
- Nature Communications 12:2412, 2021
Cryopreservation method for Drosophila melanogaster embryos
Zhan L, Li MG, Hays T, Bischof J
A cryopreservation protocol for Drosophila embryos applied across 25 strains, with flies retaining normal fertility after storage in liquid nitrogen.
Video
NorthStar Cryo in one minute.
Collaborate
Partner with us
We work with developers of islet and cell-based therapies to evaluate CryoMesh in their programs. Major pharmaceutical companies are evaluating CryoMesh.