Abstract
The rapid-freeze technique is currently touted as a revolutionary new tool for the analysis of nerve structure and function 69. However, supercooling for instantaneous vitrification of water has been known for over 100 years. For example, in the popular literature of 1877, Jules Verne described just such instantaneous freezing of the oceans of an entire planetoid 32. While rapid freezing on such a scale has not proven possible, freeze preservation of cell structure has met with increasing success since the early days of light 2,21,70 and electron microscopies 71,72,77. Likewise, the ‘new’ concept of contact freezing of nerve cells against a liquid-nitrogen- or liquid-helium-cooled metal block 12,13,27,29,36 was first described over 40 years ago 70 and adapted for electron microscopy nearly 20 years ago 83–86. However, the rapid-freeze technique could not be utilized fully in neurobiology until the techniques of freeze substitution, freeze fracture and freeze etch were developed 17,44,77 and the kinetics of rapid freezing were analysed 19,27,88,89. This report summarizes the unique opportunities and limitations now afforded by the rapid-freezing technique in neurobiology.
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