DEVICES AND METHODS FOR THAWING BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL

1 . A thawing apparatus comprising one or more compartments into which a container comprising frozen biological material may be thawed, wherein said one or more compartments comprise compressible material.

2 . A thawing apparatus comprising one or more compartments into which a container comprising frozen biological material may be thawed, wherein said one or more compartments comprises a cuff which fits around the container,

3 . A thawing apparatus comprising: (i) a sealed first compartment comprising material that undergoes a phase change when heated to a certain temperature, (ii) a plurality of compartments comprising a source of heat, and (iii) an additional plurality of compartments into which a plurality of containers containing frozen biological material can be placed, and (iii) a temperature controller that allows setting said certain temperature to 37° C.

4 . A thawing apparatus comprising: (i) a sealed compartment comprising a chemical material that heats to a certain temperature following exposure to a given condition, (ii) a plurality of compartments into which a plurality of containers containing biological material can be placed.

5 . The thawing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said compressible material comprises rubber, silicone, or sponge.

6 . The thawing apparatus of claim 2 , wherein said cuff is filled with fluid.

7 . The thawing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein said material is paraffin or beeswax.

8 . The thawing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein said source of heat is heated water.

9 . The thawing apparatus of claim 4 , wherein said chemical material is iron and wherein said given condition is exposure to oxygen.

10 . The thawing apparatus of claim 4 , wherein said chemical material is sodium, acetate.

11 . The thawing apparatus of claim 4 , wherein said chemical material is liquefied petroleum gas (lpg) and wherein said given condition is exposure to platinum.

12 . A thawing apparatus comprising: (i) a sealed first compartment comprising material that undergoes a phase change when heated to a certain temperature, (ii) a heating element disposed in or near said material, and (iii) a plurality of second compartments into which a plurality of containers containing frozen biological material can be placed.

13 . The thawing apparatus of claim 12 , wherein said material is beeswax.

14 . The thawing apparatus of claim 4 , wherein said controller is selected from the group consisting of microprocessors, controllers, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), equivalent discrete or integrated digital or analog logic circuitry, and combinations thereof.