Technology restores cell, organ function in pigs after death

Within minutes of the final heartbeat, a cascade of biochemical events triggered by a lack of blood flow, oxygen, and nutrients begins to destroy a body's cells and organs.

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But a team of Yale scientists has found that massive and permanent cellular failure doesn't have to happen so quickly.

Using a new technology they developed that delivers a specially designed cell-protective fluid to organs and tissues, the researchers restored blood circulation and other cellular functions in pigs a full hour after their deaths, they report in the Aug. edition of the journal Nature.

The findings may help extend the health of human organs during surgery and expand availability of donor organs The research builds upon an earlier Yale-led project that restored circulation and certain cellular functions in the brain of a dead pig with technology dubbed Brain Ex.

Published in 2019, that study and the new one were led by the lab of Yale's Nenad Sestan, the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Neuroscience and professor of comparative medicine, genetics, and psychiatry.