The quest to keep organs alive outside the body
Researchers are making progress in organ preservation by using supercooling techniques to keep kidneys viable outside the body for extended periods. While cryopreserving entire human organs remains an unsolved challenge, these developments could eventually address the critical shortage of donor organs.
Why it matters
Advancements in organ storage could revolutionize transplant medicine, potentially saving thousands of lives by extending the window for successful surgeries.
Researchers are breaking new ground in preserving organs by freezing them, pumping nutrients into them, or supercooling them.
This week, I covered a fascinating effort to preserve organs outside the body. There’s a huge shortage of donor organs, and one of the main reasons is time—they survive only a matter of hours outside the body, even when they’re kept on ice.
Doctors dream of organ banks—stores of human organs that can be preserved for days, weeks, months, or even longer. That would allow them to run tests on organs, find the best matches for them, and transport the organs to those recipients.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in