Participants of SLTB in Hannover

More than 80 scientists from 15 countries participated in the meeting held in Hannover, 7th – 9th September 2009, which was organised by the Institute of Multiphase Processes of the Leibniz University Hannover in collaboration with the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) Gatersleben. The meetings focus was on "Application of Cryopreservation from Human Tissue Engineering to Plant genebank Integration" with many oral and poster contributions from REBIRTH research groups Biomedical Process Technology and Biothermodynamics.

SLTB - awardees

Ralf Spindlers contribution (JRG Biothermodynamics) "Interaction of dimethyl sulfoxide and ethylene glycol with cells during freezing" was awarded with the prize for the best oral presentation. The poster of Inga Bernemann (JRG Biothermodynamics) and Navid Manuchehrabadi (collaborative project with Prof. John Bischof /USA) "Dimethyl sulfoxide diffusion in tissue-engineered collagen scaffolds visualized by computer tomography" obtained the Best Poster Award. Wim Wolkers (Biomedical Process Technology) presentation about "Membrane phase behavior of mammaliancells: implications for biopreservation" as well as Thomas Muellers (SU Embryonic Stem Cells) talk about "Cryoconservation in stem cell research: an underestimated area in translational medicine" could initiate very excited discussions. The last part of the meeting was dedicated to plant cryopreservation. It was introduced by an interesting keynote lecture about the role of LEA proteins on membrane stability in regard to cold hardening.

Participants of SLTB at the social event in Quedlinburg

The meeting ended with a tour to the medieval town Quedlinburg at the northern rim of the Harz mountains including an enjoyable afternoon stroll around the picturesque city with its half-timber-style houses and a delightful dinner at the Romantik-Hotel am Brühl, before the bus arrived to take the non-COST meeting participants back to Hannover.

Joachim Keller's welcoming speech prior to dinner

The next morning saw the start of the meeting for the Working Group 2 of the COST Action 831 “Cryopreservation of Crop Species in Europe" with the special topic “Integration of Cryopreservation in Genebank Strategies" held at the IPK Gatersleben.

Attentive participants at IPK

The meeting consisted of 5 sessions held over 2 days, covering plant cryopreservation topics of: international aspects of organising cryopreservation, routine cryopreservation, national and regional developments in cryopreservation, woody plant cryopreservation and finishing with a session on genetic, epigenetic and physiological aspects of applied cryopreservation.

Coffee time, discussions and posters at IPK

The meeting was attended by 40 participants of 16 countries. I, for one, present only as an observer found the meeting to be most interesting and informative.

Participants of "Integration of Cryopreservation in Genebank Strategies" at the IPK Gatersleben