Armand M. Karow, Jr.: Looking back

Armand Karow, Jr. was a devoted scholar of cryobiology who was responsible for the creation of landmark books and many unique observations. Driven into cryobiology by a fascination with organ cryopreservation that dated from his high school days, Karow carried out or contributed to research on the cryopreservation of hearts, kidneys, pancreatic islets, and reproductive cells and tissues. His interests included not only conventional issues in cryobiology such as cryoprotectant permeation kinetics, theories of freezing injury in cells and tissues, and electromagnetic warming of large organs, but also more esoteric questions such as the limits of tolerance of mammalian organs to high pressures, the role of molecular hydration in cell viability, the pharmacological effects of cryoprotectants (which he frequently referred to as drugs), the limits of cryoprotectant tolerance at higher temperatures, and low temperature pharmacology. A look back at some of the discoveries made by Karow and his colleagues reveals many interesting leads whose further investigation could continue to provide valuable new insights in the future.