Pig kidneys frozen for a year revived and transplanted

A University of Minnesota team led by transplant surgeon Erik Finger vitrified pig kidneys at −150 °C, storing one for over a year, then thawed and transplanted them into test pigs. The organs regained blood flow and produced urine; the work is a bioRxiv preprint awaiting peer review.

• Kidneys were stored at −150 °C, one for more than a year
• Thawed organs regained color and urine production in test pigs
• Iron-oxide nanoparticles in the cryoprotectant enabled even rewarming
• Earlier work included rat kidney transplants and pig kidneys frozen for 10 days