Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO): The Biological Membrane Penetrator That Changed Pharmaceutical Research

Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) is one of the most

scientifically remarkable solvents ever

discovered. While most industrial solvents are

valued purely for their ability to dissolve

things, DMSO possesses a biological property

that sets it entirely apart — the ability to

penetrate living biological membranes including

human skin without causing permanent structural

damage.

This extraordinary property was first described

in the 1960s and has since made DMSO one of

the most extensively studied and uniquely

applied solvents in pharmaceutical research,

cryobiology, and laboratory science.

The Membrane Penetration Property

When DMSO contacts skin it rapidly penetrates

through the epidermis and dermis carrying any

dissolved substances along with it. This is

both DMSO's greatest utility and its most

important handling consideration — it can

deliver dissolved compounds directly through

skin tissue without injection.

This property has made DMSO the standard

vehicle for transdermal drug delivery research

where pharmaceutical scientists use it to

study the penetration characteristics of

active pharmaceutical ingredients through

biological barriers.

Cryobiology and Biobanking

DMSO is the gold standard cryoprotectant in

biological sample preservation. At 5-10%

concentration in cryopreservation media it

prevents the formation of ice crystals that

would otherwise destroy cellular structures

when freezing to liquid nitrogen temperatures.

Every major biobank, stem cell therapy centre,

cord blood bank, and reproductive medicine

facility in the world uses DMSO to preserve

its biological samples. The global supply of

preserved stem cells, bone marrow, embryos,

and cord blood units depends on pharmaceutical-

grade DMSO.

Laboratory Compound Storage

In pharmaceutical research DMSO is the

universal solvent for compound libraries.

Most high-throughput screening (HTS)

compound collections worldwide are stored

as DMSO solutions at -20°C or -80°C. Its

ability to dissolve both polar and non-polar

compounds at high concentrations makes it

the only practical universal solvent for

diverse chemical libraries.

Sourcing DMSO from UAB An Group Export

UAB An Group Export supplies pharmaceutical

and industrial-grade DMSO at >=99.9% purity

with full CoA, SDS, and export documentation.

Contact us at info@angroupexport.com or via

WhatsApp at +1 (350) 210-1380.