Scientists find a way to preserve organ for up to 3 days

The inability to preserve organs for long periods has led to many donated organs going to waste. If these organs could be preserved, then many lives could have been saved. But a method has recently been developed by scientists that could solve this problem to some extent.

After an organ is removed from the donor, the cells begin to die, and after 24 hours, the organ loses its viability for transplant. The new method called supercooling could slow cell death and give as much as 3 days time to the doctors to find a match. The supercooling method has been used on animals as of now. In this method, the organ is pumped with oxygen and nutrients through its blood vessels while cooling it down considerably. The cell death is slowed. Animal test showed that supercooled livers remain transplant worthy for three days. However, the scientists admit that further tests are required before this method can be used in preserving human organs.

The study results were published in the Nature Medicine journal and have met with much enthusiasm from the medical community. According to Dr Korkut Uygun, from the Harvard Medical School, this method will allow better donor matching and reduce chances of organ rejection and complications which is a very major issue in transplants.