Cryopreservation - A fundamental underpinning technology for the development of a sustainable blue economy.

For all biotechnological processes guaranteeing consistency in productivity and functionality of master stock-cultures is a key challenge and critical to the sustainability of production. Most of the current generation of biotech microorganisms can be conserved by lyophilization, or cryopreservation at ultra-low temperatures. Whilst lyophilized materials have a finite “shelf-life”, cryopreservation can theoretically guarantee stability for 100’s of years. Most of the organisms that are currently exploited biotechnologically originate from terrestrial niches; however, increased interest in finding alternative sources of new pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and oils, in particular, have stimulated much interest in exploring the marine environment. Uniquely in biotechnological exploitation, routine serial-transfer of algal cultures is accepted by many workers as the optimal method of long-term maintenance. Whilst there is limited published evidence of genotypic or functional instability, there are also examples of deleterious changes on prolonged maintenance including morphological changes and loss of metabolite production. Furthermore, there are risks, not only of loss of a valuable “capability”, but of mislabelling, or even catastrophic failure of the master stock-cultures. These organisms, other previously unexplored taxa, and transgenic algae raise specific issues that necessitate appropriate targeted research, both on fundamental studies and in protocol development for materials with predicted biotechnological potential.