By: Chase Liu

Scientists at Yale were able to revive a pig’s organs by pumping synthetic fluids through the pig’s body. While doing this, they discovered that the pig’s heart was beating, and there was blood circulation. Some vital organs, such as the liver and the heart, were also revived.

According to a Nature article, the team at Yale used a machine called OrganEx, similar to the heart-lung devices used in surgery, to pump certain fluids into the pig an hour after it died.

Following this, the scientists at Yale put a group of dead pigs on an ECMO for a 6-hour experiment. By the end of the investigation, the scientists found that OrganEx could deliver “adequate levels of oxygen” to the pig’s body.

“Under the microscope, it was difficult to tell the difference between a healthy organ and one which had been treated with OrganEx technology after death,” said Zvonimir Vrselja, a neuroscientist at Yale.

However, unlike the OrganEx, the ECMO failed to supply the pig’s blood with oxygen.

Another thing OrganEx did that was surprising and incredible was inducing the movement of the head and neck areas of the dead pigs hooked up to the machine.

“The fruits of this research are unlikely to enable us to revive just anyone but may help us save a limited number of people in certain circumstances,” Nathan Emmerich, a bioethicist at the National Univesity of Australia, said.

Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1659884423491x799152659102651000/Scientists%20revive%20cellular%20activities%20in%20pig%20organs%20an%20hour%20after%20death%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf