Donated livers can be made biologically younger
Once an organ is removed from a donor’s body, the clock starts ticking. Surgeons usually flush the organ with a preservative solution, bag it, and put it on ice—where it immediately starts to degrade. The team has a matter of hours to get it into a recipient’s body. There’s another option—one that has been growing…
Scientists have discovered that organs preserved in a machine called a perfusion machine can appear younger than they actually are, according to a study reported by MIT Technology Review. The research, conducted by doctors and biologists, suggests that perfused organs could be more successful in transplant surgeries and may even help explain why younger donor organs have higher success rates.
The study employed "aging clocks," which measure biological age by analyzing changes in DNA and gene activity. In initial tests, perfused livers exhibited a lower biological age compared to non-perfused livers, even when chronologically older. Further analysis of 208 samples from 103 livers confirmed that perfusion effectively reversed the biological age of the organs.
While the study did not examine older donors, the researchers aim to explore the effects of perfusion on donors in their 70s, 80s, and 85s. The findings could lead to new tests to assess organ health and potentially develop drugs to artificially lower an organ's biological age, making perfusion a more cost-effective alternative to current perfusion methods.
Written by urgent.news from MIT Technology Review's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Donated livers can be made biologically younger technologyreview.com
