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Researchers in the United States have succeeded in reviving organs from pigs that have been dead for an hour.



According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 3rd, Yale University researchers published the results of a study in the international scientific journal Nature that revived vital organs from dead pigs.



Professor Nenad Sestan, who led the research team, is a neuroscientist who drew attention for reviving some brain functions isolated from pigs that died in 2019.



This time, the experiment was conducted not only on the brain, but on the whole body.



The research team, which restored some brain cell functions by supplying a special blood-mimicking solution called BrainEX at the time, developed a special solution called OrganEX and used it in the experiment.



This solution is made from a mixture of nutrients, anti-inflammatory, anti-cell, nerve-blocking, artificial hemoglobin and pig blood.



An hour after the pig's heart stopped in the lab, the researchers used a device similar to an artificial cardiopulmonary system to inject organ extract into the blood vessels of the dead pig, and the dead cells started to come back to life.



Not only did the heart beat again, but the cells of vital organs, such as the liver, kidneys and brain, began to function again, and the pig's body did not become as stiff as a carcass, the researchers said.



"We didn't know what to expect," said David Andrievich, Yale University professor, one of the co-authors of the paper. Everything we brought back was incredible.



However, the pig's consciousness did not return, the researchers considered.



This is because the nerve blocking agent contained in Organ X blocked the activation of brain nerves.



Thus, although individual brain cells were revived, there were no signs of systematic neural activity in the brain as a whole, according to Professor Setan et al.



The purpose of this study is to increase the supply by preserving organs for long-term human transplantation, but Steven Latham, director of the Yale Interdisciplinary Research Center for Bioethics, said, “There is still a long way to go before it can be used in humans.” said.



The Yale study also raises new questions about the existing definition of the boundary between life and death, according to the American media.



(Photo = Yale News homepage capture, Yonhap News)