University of Minnesota achieves milestone in freezing organs before transplant

Jun 23, 20230

Rebecca Slater count

University of Minnesota mechanical engineering postdoctoral researcher Zonghu Han demonstrated how rat kidneys can be cryogenically stored for up to 100 days before they are warmed and transplanted.

Scientists at the University of Minnesota have successfully transplanted rat kidneys that were thawed after up to 100 days in ultracold storage - a milestone that could one day revolutionize how and when human organs are transplanted.

The discovery, publicized by the U on Thursday, averts the formation of ice crystals that kills living tissue when frozen and the irreparable damage from uneven thawing.

John Bischof has been confronting those hurdles for years, and the mechanical engineering professor said he felt a sense of history-making when a frozen-then-thawed kidney resumed healthy function in a rat. Four more transplants produced the same results, with the kidneys functioning normally in 30 days, according to results published in Nature Communications, a peer-reviewed science journal.

https://www.startribune.com/university-of-minnesota-achieves-milestone-in-freezing-organs-before-transplant/600284545/