New technique keeps transplant organs viable for 10 days instead of 4 hours

Amazing. [Link]

Science fiction is fraught with mad scientists who discover strange chemicals that can empower the human body or even reanimate the dead. Well, Harvard has come about as close to that scenario as anyone would want them to. Prof. Hemant Thatte has developed a cocktail of 21 chemical compounds that he calls Somah, derived from the sanskrit for “ambrosia of rejuvenation”. Using Somah, Thattle and his team have accomplished some amazing feats with pig hearts. They can keep the organ viable for transplant up to 10 days after harvest – that’s incredibly longer than the 4 hour limit seen in hospitals today. Not only that, but using low temperatures and Somah, they were able to take a pig heart that was removed post mortem and get it to beat 24 hours later in the lab.