Scientists revived vital organs from deceased pigs with a technology that shows promise for organ transplantation and further blurs the line between life and death.
The research, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, challenges the assumption that tissue death is swift and irreversible, as the scientists were able to restore the function of several organs an hour after the pigs’ hearts had stopped.
“The latest findings raise a slew of questions — not least, whether medical and biological determinations of death will need revising,” Brendan Parent, director of transplant ethics and policy research at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, said in a commentary accompanying the article.
Photo: Reuters
The findings might also force a rethink of critical care processes, he said.
Shortly after cardiac arrest, blood stops coursing through the body, resulting in a lack of oxygen and nutrient circulation that sets off a cascade of events leading to cellular death and organ injury. Scientists have been looking for ways to protect cells and organs from this process for years.
Researchers led by David Andrijevic, a professor at Yale University’s School of Medicine, adapted a technology called BrainEx for whole-body use and found it performed better than a standard technique for artificially adding oxygen to blood — called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation — which is used in hospitals to support patients whose organs have failed.
The system called OrganEx, designed by Andrijevic and two colleagues, allowed oxygen to be recirculated through the pigs’ bodies, preserving cells and organs an hour after a cardiac arrest.
The group earlier showed that BrainEx could restore some activity in the cells of pig brains after hours of oxygen deprivation.
The findings hold promise for preserving and transporting organs for transplant, researchers said, although they were reluctant to speculate about other uses.
“This is very far from use in humans,” Yale University Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics director Stephen Latham said, adding that the process would require far more study before scientists could consider it for people.
Others who were not involved in the research said the findings have further ramifications.
“Biological death is more like a cascade of dominoes, with one event triggering the next, than an instantaneous transition,” said Martin Monti, a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“What is groundbreaking about this technology is that this cascade can be halted in some organs if only the right cellular environment and metabolic parameters can be restored,” Monti said. “The potential implications, if this will ever be successfully translated to humans, are huge.”
The researchers said that the pigs did not suffer pain because they were anesthetized and that no electrical activity could be detected in their brains.
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of