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Cell biology in the Antarctic: studying life in the freezer

Nature Cell Biology volume 5, pages 3–6 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Many classical biologists working in Antarctica have 'gone molecular' to study the physiological basis for life on or below the ice. Investigating the remarkable adaptations of specific cells, organelles and molecules to this extreme environment can provide new perspectives on the processes studied in conventional experimental organisms.

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Figure 1: McMurdo Station on Hut Point, Ross Island.
Figure 2: Experimental organisms.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Munro, G. Schiavo, D. Ng, N. Collie, J.-C. Roeper, J. Young, J. Rosenthal and M. Gebhardt for critically reading the manuscript, and A. Stuart and M. Lindsay for the electron micrograph. K.R. was funded by a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship (042216). Work in T.M.'s lab was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. We thank the National Science Foundation and British Antarctic Survey for supporting our research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cambridge Institute of Medical Research and the Department of Clinical Biochemistry University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2XY, UK

    Karin Römisch

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK

    Tom Matheson

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  1. Karin Römisch
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  2. Tom Matheson
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Römisch, K., Matheson, T. Cell biology in the Antarctic: studying life in the freezer. Nat Cell Biol 5, 3–6 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0103-3

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