A pig kidney that had been removed from its host and frozen 10 days earlier, was thawed and prepared for a transplant experiment at Massachusetts General Hospital in March. [Credit.:Jeffrey Andree/Mass General Brigham]
In a historic milestone for transplant medicine and organ preservation, researchers from the Center for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio), in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), have successfully transplanted a kidney that had been frozen for 10 days—a first in medical science.
As reported by The New York Times in the article titled “This Kidney Was Frozen for 10 Days. Could Surgeons Transplant It?”, the team developed and tested a pioneering method that allowed a pig kidney to be removed, cryopreserved, and later thawed and transplanted back into a large animal with functional results. This experiment, conducted at MGH in March, represents a potential paradigm shift in how organs may be stored, transported, and used for future human transplantation.
Organs are typically viable for transplant only within 24 to 36 hours. Extending preservation time to 10 days opens unprecedented possibilities for addressing global organ shortages, optimizing transplant logistics, and improving patient outcomes.
This remarkable achievement exemplifies ATP-Bio’s mission to push the boundaries of biopreservation science and revolutionize the future of medicine through multidisciplinary innovation.
Stay tuned as we continue to advance toward clinical application.
Read full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/health/frozen-kidney-organ-transplant.html#