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Abstract
Anhydrobiosis ("life without water") is the remarkable ability of certain organisms
to survive almost total dehydration. It requires a coordinated series of events during
dehydration that are associated with preventing oxidative damage and maintaining the
native structure of macromolecules and membranes. The preferential hydration of macromolecules
is essential when there is still bulk water present, but replacement by sugars becomes
important upon further drying. Recent advances in our understanding of the mechanism
of anhydrobiosis include the downregulation of metabolism, dehydration-induced partitioning
of amphiphilic compounds into membranes and immobilization of the cytoplasm in a stable
multicomponent glassy matrix.