The Deep-Freeze Organ Transplant

Needing an organ transplant is a lot of hassle - in fact, if it wasn't life or death you probably wouldn't bother. Problem is, it is. You might wait for years and when comes along you've got about 12 hours to get it all hooked up before there's no point. A new method which is part cookery, part fridge and part mechanical could prolong the life of organs in transit or even help create a central for all your internal-replacement needs.

Why can't you freeze organs like any other meat? Because you care a bit more about them being intact. Freezing creates ice crystals throughout flesh, and thanks to water's peculiar trick of expanding between four degrees celsius and zero the expanding crystals can destroy the cells in the tissue. Not such a big deal for the succulence of beef, but a bit of a problem if you're planning on a heart transplant.

The Israeli Agricultural Research Organization have developed a device which expands upon current techniques to prevent this ice-damage. First you drain out all the blood, which must be a lovely horror-movie moment for all involved, then place the organ inside a pair of hollow brass blocks. Cooled by liquid nitrogen, the blocks slowly cool the organ - it's important to cool it, because in case you haven't noticed that organ is now out on its own (not a naturally tenable environment for internal organs - that's why they're called "internal") and fresh out of blood. It's also important to do it slowly, as this avoids the formation of large cell-rupturing ice crystals.

The organ can then be thawed and implanted. They know this because they've done it, freezing and thawing a pig liver which they then implanted into a pig. A pig which already had a liver, so if nothing else the new pig-piggybacking-organ should render it impervious to hangovers. The transplant was a complete success - for the liver, at least, but not for the pig because they killed it hours later to analyze the organ.

David Winter has criticized the results, claiming they prove nothing, but then Mr Winter does run a rival company so perhaps his opinion can be discounted for the moment. The Israeli team are already planning further trials. The pig is, understandably, not planning much.

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By Luke Mckinney

Cryogenic Pig on New Scientist

Image Dr. I-Chen Tsai, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan (from wikipedia)

Comments

[Brad]

hope they didnt waste the bacon and pork chops from the pig :)-

[EvilCosmicMonkey From Knoxville]

Wouldn't it be great if said transplant organs could be cloned from one's cells shortly after birth then saved for possible transplant in the future ? ( frozen, of course ) Then a would - be recipient & their family wouldn't have to feel ghoulish by waiting to hear if they're getting a new liver, kidney, pancreas, etc., because someone wasn't wearing their seat - belt or motorcycle helmet during an accident.

[Frank Glover]

"Wouldn't it be great if said transplant organs could be cloned from one's cells shortly after birth then saved for possible transplant in the future ? ( frozen, of course )"

If you could do that, rather than making and keeping an unknowable number of specific organs in storage for everybody for an unknowably long time, just save a small amount of tissue when young, and do the organ cloning from that only if and when actually needed...

[EvilCosmicMonkey From Knoxville]

Cloning organs could be done using cord blood, placenta tissue, or - GASP !! - STEM CELLS !! Prevention of ice crystals in the frozen tissues might pose a problem, but some cryonicists ( ? ) are investigating methods to keep this from destroying essential tissues & systems.