In a miracle discovery, 21st Century Medicine (21CM) researchers have announced that they have tasted success in recovering an entire mammalian brain from cryopreservation. The discovery announced Tuesday has given hopes that one day, human brain will also be brought back to life.

It has been for the first time when a mammal brain was frozen and thawed out perfectly. For the incredible scientific achievement, the Brain Preservation Foundation honored the 21CM team with the Small Mammal Brain Preservation Prize.

The preserved brain of rabbit was dead tissue, and during the research, its synaptic connections were maintained, said Robert McIntyre, lead researcher and a scientist at the 21CM. “This research is a first because it works on whole brains and preserves all of the synaptic details. Previous techniques, such as resin embedding, are only able to preserve detailed synaptic information in small brain slices”, he continued.

Aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation, also known as ASC, is a chemical technique that the 21CM researchers used to preserve the rabbit brain. The technique included grouping of two processes: chemical fixation and cryogenic cooling.

While providing more information on the research, McIntyre said that first of all, the team used the oily liquid glutaraldehyde and bound the brain’s protein. After that, ethylene glycol was used to protect the brain while freezing, he added.

Next step was cooling the rabbit brain to minus 135 degrees Celsius which caused it to solidify. It was the temperature at which the brain can be restored for many years without decay.

McIntyre and Dr. Gregory Fahy, second researchers in the discovery and vice president and chief scientific officer at 21CM, were honored with $26,735 prize from the Brain Preservation Foundation for the research.