Scientists at Japan's Yamanashi University have been able to clone mice from dried and frozen skin cells from their tails.. According to Science Alert, the skin cells were dried using a process called freeze drying..

It allows, for example, to dry and store berries or food for astronauts.. However, it was believed that lyophilization destroys cells. Now scientists have proven that they can grow full-fledged, viable and fertile clones.. This is important because liquid nitrogen storage of embryos is very costly and storage conditions are easily disrupted in the event of natural disasters..

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Freeze drying is a gentle, albeit intense, process.. Objects are frozen in several stages until the temperature drops to -80 degrees Celsius. And then they are placed in a high pressure vacuum chamber..

This process turns water into ice, while large ice crystals do not penetrate the walls of the cells, and the pressure turns the water from a solid state into a gas, which is then sucked out of the product.. The procedure is repeated several times until the object becomes light and crispy, but at the same time retains most of its structure..

Basically, freeze drying is used in the food industry, which allows you to keep the nutrients and taste of food in its original form.. In addition, the process is used in pharmaceuticals, and sometimes in taxidermy..

After the dried product arrives at its destination, it can be rehydrated, keeping many of its properties the same.. This process has been used successfully for decades.. But doing something similar with living cells is very difficult..

So far, the same research team has been experimenting with storing freeze-dried sperm in a drawer (without temperature control) for over a year and on the International Space Station for over five years.. As a result, it was possible to obtain viable offspring, but the best result was obtained with juvenile samples..

Freeze-drying may be the best way to store genetic resources for a long time, scientists say. At the same time, while the only cells that give offspring after undergoing such a process are mature spermatozoa..

In cloning, researchers need a non-reproductive cell (called a somatic cell) with all of the animal's DNA. This package of nuclei, filled with DNA, can then be inserted into an egg, and the process of growing an embryo can begin..

In the study, the scientists used somatic cells that were dried and frozen and then stored at -30 degrees Celsius.. The cells died and the DNA was largely damaged, but the team was able to extract the residual genetic information and put it into new cells that became the embryonic cell lines..

Then, nuclear information was extracted from the cell lines and transferred into a new embryo, which became the mouse embryo..

It is noted that this is a very long and complicated process.. The probability of success at each of its stages is 0.2%. That is, lower than cloning Dolly the Sheep. Some mice were also non-identical clones, carrying genetic abnormalities due to DNA damage..

However, if the method can be improved, over time it can be successfully used in other areas..