MOE International Joint Research Laboratory on Synthetic Biology and Medicines, School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, People's Republic of China.
The Second Affiliated Hospital, Provincial Key Laboratory of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510260, People's Republic of China.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Oct 15;121(42):e2408273121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2408273121. Epub 2024 Oct 10.
The concurrent preservation of morphological, structural, and genomic attributes within biological samples is paramount for comprehensive insights into biological phenomena and disease mechanisms. However, current preservation methodologies (e.g., cryopreservation, chemical reagent fixation, and bioplasticization) exhibit limitations in simultaneously achieving these critical combined goals. To address this gap, inspired by natural fossilization, here we propose "deep silicification," a room temperature technology that eliminates fixation requirements and overcomes the cold chain problem. By harnessing the synergy between ethanol and dimethyl sulfoxide, deep silicification significantly enhances silica penetration and accumulation within bioorganisms, thereby reinforcing structural integrity. This versatile and cost-effective approach demonstrates remarkable efficacy in preserving organismal morphology across various scales. Accelerated aging experiments underscore a 4,723-fold enhancement in genomic information storage over millennia, with whole-genome sequencing confirming nearly 100% fidelity. With its simplicity and reliability, "deep silicification" represents a paradigm shift in biological sample storage.
在生物样本中同时保留形态、结构和基因组属性对于全面了解生物现象和疾病机制至关重要。然而，目前的保存方法（例如，冷冻保存、化学试剂固定和生物塑料化）在同时实现这些关键综合目标方面存在局限性。受自然化石形成的启发，我们在这里提出了“深度硅化”，这是一种室温技术，它消除了固定的要求并克服了冷链问题。通过利用乙醇和二甲基亚砜的协同作用，深度硅化显著增强了硅在生物体内的渗透和积累，从而增强了结构完整性。这种多功能且具有成本效益的方法在保存各种规模的生物体形态方面表现出显著的效果。加速老化实验强调了在几千年的时间里，基因组信息存储的能力提高了 4723 倍，全基因组测序证实了几乎 100%的保真度。由于其简单性和可靠性，“深度硅化”代表了生物样本存储的范式转变。
