Created: May 03, 2021 06:02 PM
Researchers at the University of Minnesota are working to create the world s first human organ storage bank as part of a new national effort.
Currently, human organs only have a matter of hours after donation to reach a recipient, so storing them is not possible.
But the Minnesota scientists are developing new methods of organ preservation that could give organs a shelf life of months or even years. We want to stop biologic time, explained Dr. Erik Finger, a transplant surgeon and associate professor in the university s department of surgery. Right now, there s a problem: if an organ is suitable for a patient in California but comes from Maine, it may not get there in time. With heart and lung, for example, you only have four to six hours. Our process would allow you to store organs in a liquid nitrogen freezer for years, theoretically.
Researchers at U of M working to create world s 1st human organ storage bank
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Researchers at U of M working to create world s 1st human organ storage bank
kaaltv.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kaaltv.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
First-of-its-kind method cryopreserves fruit fly embryos in liquid nitrogen
Cryopreservation, or the long-term storage of biomaterials at ultralow temperatures, has been used across cell types and species. However, until now, the practical cryopreservation of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster)-;which is crucial to genetics research and critical to scientific breakthroughs benefiting human health-;has not been available. To keep alive the ever-increasing number of fruit flies with unique genotypes that aid in these breakthroughs, some 160,000 different flies, laboratories and stock centers engage in the costly and frequent transfer of adults to fresh food, risking contamination and genetic drift, said Li Zhan, a mechanical engineering postdoctoral associate with the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering and the Center for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio).