A group of scientists said they have found a way to more effectively preserve and even partially restore
In April 2019, a group of researchers fromYale University, using a cocktail of synthetic blood and other compounds, has shown that it is possible to restore circulation and cellular activity in a pig's brain four hours after the animal's death for up to six hours.
Now the same team has expanded its work.Previously, the brains of dead pigs were removed from the skull and connected to their system, which they called BrainEx. This time, they connected the pig's entire body through the circulatory system to an enlarged version of the system called OrganEx.
The mechanical half of the OrganEx system resemblesexisting machines designed to support the human heart and lungs. But what makes the system unique is the synthetic fluid the team developed, which is pumped through the pig's bloodstream. Some of the liquid's ingredients are patented, others – existing medications, but in general it is designed to promote cell health, reduce the rate of cell death and suppress inflammation.
In new experiments, an attempt at resuscitation beganone hour after the pigs died of cardiac arrest. As with the pig brains in the previous study, the body parts of the OrganEx pigs seemed to flicker as they returned to a semblance of life. On a more “individual” level, there were signs that their cells were again performing some of the standard processes, including self-repair.
"As in the previous study, thisIn our work, we actually show that we can restore certain cell functions some time after death,” – said study author Zvonimir Vrselja, an associate fellow in neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine.
It is noted that the researchers took care ofto prevent the possibility of the dead pigs developing anything resembling consciousness. All experiments were carried out at a temperature that inhibited any brain activity.