Oxygen is the elixir of life. Stop its flow\u2014during a stroke, heart attack, or death\u2014and the body\u2019s tissues respond in a biological storm that eventually leads to their death.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not great for organ transplants. Most donated organs struggle to survive beyond death. Deprived of oxygen, they rapidly lose their function. Cells turn into acidic, bloated blobs that leak, injuring their neighbors. The immune system ramps up, pumping out a deadly concoction of hormones and immune chemicals that send the brain and immune system into hyperdrive, damaging most organs in the process. In other words, once death sets in, there\u2019s no turning back.<\/p>\n
Or is there?<\/p>\n
A new study in Nature suggests there might be. Using an external circulation system, a team of scientists partially revived organs in pigs hours after their deaths. The system, dubbed OrganEx, works like an alternative circulatory system. Instead of blood, it pumps a synthetic substitute to trick the body into thinking it\u2019s still somewhat alive.<\/p>\n
To be clear, the scientists didn\u2019t make porcine zombies. Although the blood replacement recipe helped to preserve some brain tissue, it didn\u2019t reactivate any coordinated electrical activity in neurons. In other words, it\u2019s extremely unlikely that the pigs regained any consciousness during the procedure. But other bodily organs did get a potential boost for a second life. Cells in the heart, liver, and kidneys repaired themselves based on multiple molecular analyses.<\/p>\n
The goal isn\u2019t to build a new-age Frankenstein. Rather, it\u2019s to help with the current organ transplant shortage and health emergencies caused by constricted blood flow. \u201cThe achievement points to ways to improve transplants and the treatment of strokes and heart attacks,\u201d wrote Dr. Robert Porte at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, who was not involved in the study.<\/p>\n