uneval(var_name, value, return_cell_array)

Uneval performs the inverse operation of eval('expression').

This function converts a MATLAB variable into a text string, which when evaluated, produces the original variable having identical:
data types (single, double, int8, ...)
structures
cell arrays
multi-dimensional arrays
nested struct's of cell arrays of structs of ...
For floating point values, enough significant digits are printed to preserve machine precision.
Contrived example usage:
settings = load('some_data.mat');
string = uneval('settings2', settings)
eval(string);
disp(isequalwithequalnans(settings, settings2));

This function probably does not work with handles to nested functions, figure handles, or java & OOP objects...