WhyNotDry

Title and acronym

“Toward consolidation of germplasm and cell reversible drying through knowledge transfer” (WhyNotDry)

Programme and call

HORIZON-MSCA-2022-SE-01-01 - MSCA Staff Exchanges 2022 

Reference

101131087

Principal investigator

Santiago Aparicio 

Sonia Martel

Project coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TERAMO (Italia)

Partners

• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI CAGLIARI – UNICA (Italia)
• BIOTALENTUM TUDASFEJLESZTO KFT – BIOT (Hungría)
• AVANTEA srl (Italia)
• UNIVERSIDAD DE BURGOS (España)

Overall project budget

676.200 €

Contribution of the Funding agency

676.200 €

UBU´s budget

142.600 €

EC contribution

142.600 €

Project duration

48 meses (01/10/2023 – 30/09/2027)

Contact

sapar@ubu.es

Project website

http://whynotdry.unite.it

Description

WhyNotDry will deepen our knowledge on reversible drying in cells and germplasm toward the  development of a dry biobanking as an alternative to the current freezing in Liquid Nitrogen (LN). LN is expensive, requires dedicated facilities and power supply, and has a high CO2 footprint.

WhyNotDry will achieve its aims through a multidisciplinary, intersectoral, international network of scientists.

The activities leading to these aims will be carried out by knowhow sharing through Staff Exchanges between: 3 EU academies, 2 EU SMEs, 2 international partners (Japan, Thailand).

Outcomes of WhyNotDry will be incorporated into a cheap, environmentally friendly, and easy biobanking for biodiversity conservation, assisted reproduction, stem cell/personalized medicine. Successful development of this technology will set the basis for a radically new, ‘green’ biobanking paradigm, simplifying the maintenance and shipping practices in life sciences, with enormous reduction in costs and carbon footprint. Moreover, knowledge generated in WhyNotDry would be applicable to other fields such as agriculture, environmental science, food processing, and the pharmaceutical industry, where elective or enforced (by climate change) drying is dealt with. Finally, WhyNotDry will empower young scientists with transferable skills, ensuring career prospects in academia/industry, and strengthen the international/sectorial network between disciplines, boosting European excellence.