Dear Andrew, Re cryocooled. Cooled?
It reminds me of James Bond where Martinis should be shaken but not stirred. Ie Cooling sounds awfully gentle, a sort of enjoying a cool sea breeze in the Caribbean heat. (Ian Fleming wrote his Bond novels there.) Shock frozen is more what we are doing to our crystals, a brutal event, rather than a cooling, even if labelled cryo cooling. Greetings, John Prof John R Helliwell DSc FInstP CPhys FRSC CChem F Soc Biol. Chair School of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Athena Swan Team. http://www.chemistry.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/athena/index.html On 15 Nov 2012, at 18:12, A Leslie <and...@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk> wrote: > Dear Sebastiano, > > This is not entirely straight-forward. The > Oxford English dictionary gives the first definition of "freeze" relevant to > this discussion as: > "Of (a body of) water: be converted into or become covered with ice through > loss of heat" > > This is certainly not what we want to do to our crystals. > > However, another definition in OED is: > "Cause (a liquid) to solidify by removal of heat", suggesting that this does > not necessarily mean the formation of crystals. > > The Larousse Dictionary of Science and Technology (1995) has the following > definition: > "Freeze-drying (Biol.) A method of fixing tissues sufficiently rapidly as to > inhibit the formation of ice-crystals." > > The Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology (3rd Ed) in the entry on > "Freezing" has the sentence: > "Rapid freezing tends to prevent the ice crystal formation by encouraging > vitrification". > > Both of these erstwhile volumes therefore suggest that freezing does not > necessarily imply the formation of crystals. However, the term is ambiguous, > while vitrification is not. > > Personally I use "cryocooled" instead. > > Best wishes, > > Andrew > > > > On 15 Nov 2012, at 17:13, Sebastiano Pasqualato wrote: > >> >> Hi folks, >> I have recently received a comment on a paper, in which referee #1 >> (excellent referee, btw!) commented like this: >> >> "crystals were vitrified rather than frozen." >> >> These were crystals grew in ca. 2.5 M sodium malonate, directly dip in >> liquid nitrogen prior to data collection at 100 K. >> We stated in the methods section that crystals were "frozen in liquid >> nitrogen", as I always did. >> >> After a little googling it looks like I've always been wrong, and what we >> are always doing is doing is actually vitrifying the crystals. >> Should I always use this statement, from now on, or are there >> english/physics subtleties that I'm not grasping? >> >> Thanks a lot, >> ciao, >> s >> >> >> -- >> Sebastiano Pasqualato, PhD >> Crystallography Unit >> Department of Experimental Oncology >> European Institute of Oncology >> IFOM-IEO Campus >> via Adamello, 16 >> 20139 - Milano >> Italy >> >> tel +39 02 9437 5167 >> fax +39 02 9437 5990 >> >> please note the change in email address! >> sebastiano.pasqual...@ieo.eu >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >
