Between the death of an organ donor and the implanting of a heart, lungs or liver into a recipient, many precious hours can pass. Yet after just a few minutes without oxygen, the cells of the organs will begin to die. Only when they have been implanted into the recipient and connected up do they receive fresh oxygenated blood to halt decomposition. If the organs die, there is no turning back.
Or that was how it used to be. Now researchers from Yale University in the US have cracked the code for keeping organs alive over that vital transfer time. The new method can even revive organs previously considered dead.
