All living things depend on water, but a handful of organisms including tardigrades, brine shrimp and baker’s yeast can survive for long periods in a dehydrated state. Professor John Crowe and his wife, biophysicist Lois Crowe, working at the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Davis Department of Zoology and later Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, discovered that these organisms make a sugar called trehalose that replaces water in cells, protecting them from damage until they can be rehydrated. Their discoveries have led to a wide range of innovations in food preservation and medicine, for example in freeze-drying of drugs and vaccines. They also have potential for preserving human red blood cells and platelets.
