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A NEW ‘SUPERCOOLING’ technique keeps rat livers alive three times longer than before, boosting hopes for easing shortages of human transplant organs, scientists say.
The method involves cooling the livers while flushing them with oxygen and nutrients and preserving them in a solution containing a form of antifreeze.
The livers can be conserved at temperatures below zero degrees Celsius yet not freeze and thus suffer cell damage.
All rats given livers “supercooled” for three days (72 hours) were healthy after three months, a benchmark for survival.
Of those who received livers stored for 96 hours, 58% survived to the three-month mark, said study results published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Rats that received transplant livers preserved with current methods survived only for hours or days.
“To our knowledge, this is the longest preservation time with subsequent successful transplantation achieved to date,” said study co-author Korkut Uygun of the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Engineering in Medicine.
If we can do this with human organs, we could share organs globally, helping to alleviate the worldwide organ shortage.
Existing technology can preserve human livers well for up to about 12 hours outside the body. Since the 1980s, donor organs have been preserved at temperatures at or just above freezing in a solution that reduces metabolism and organ deterioration.
The new method saw the addition of protective, anti-freeze ingredients to the preservation solution.
“The next step will be to conduct similar studies in larger animals,” said Rosemarie Hunziker of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), a body of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) which supported the work.
The method will have to be thoroughly tested and refined before it can be considered for use in humans.
“Extending even further the time a liver can survive outside the body would provide many benefits,” according to a NIBIB statement.
It would allow more time to prepare the patient and ease logistics at the donor hospital site, reduce the urgency of rushing the organ to its destination, and expand the donation area to allow for transcontinental and intercontinental transplantations.
This would boost the chances of patients finding better donor organ matches, and reduce costs.
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Not a chance. Why is it even considered?
@shellakybooky: why not have our own representation specifically for the Irish soldiers. Would solve all the problems.
@shellakybooky: every one as individuals should decide for themselves. As for myself the mass slaughter of the working class by capitalism and tiny elite of ‘ royalty’ was evil personifedd. It’s not ok to glorify the macarb.the rich start wars the poor die in them.
@Jumanji: it’s called a Lilly
@Jumanji:
“@shellakybooky: why not have our own representation specifically for the Irish soldiers. Would solve all the problems.”
We do have this.
The Shamrock Poppy is specifically or Irish soldiers and all proceeds raised by the shamrock poppy go to Irish families.
@Jumanji: we have the Fuchsia
@Jumanji: ah no, it’s much more fun having a big row about it every year! It’s like putting the clock back etc. They trot it out every year and away we go.
@shellakybooky: Because 14 different Nationalities fought on the Western Front and their dead should be remembered.
@Jumanji: we Irish have it wrong, as do the brits, it was originally an American thing that found it’s way to England via France.
Anyways, wear it don’t wear it, remembering our war dead wjth dignity is the only thing that’s important.
Have a good day
@Jumanji: Way too simple solution
@Brinster: No it isn’t . The shamrock poppy was invented last year.
It’s a no from me
If it was ACTUALLY just to remember those who died in the world wars, but it isn’t.
I thought the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Sq was made to commemorate ALL Irish men and women who died in ALL wars?
No need for buying poppies. The funds raised through sales of poppies go to the British Legion, a charity in Great Britain.
The annual remembrance service in the Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge should be quite sufficient. Leave it at that.
@Canny Jem: actually, there are 10 branches of that charity here in Ireland, but, yes, sales of the poppy go to the Royal British Legion. To me, the poppy is an inherently British thing, especially as they now use its symbol to commemorate all wars, not just WW1 as was first intended.
Haven’t they more important issues to concentrate on….
@Jonhayes38: who? Claire Byrne?
No problem with someone picking up a poppy from the ground, regardless of colour of the poppy and wearing it as a mark of respect. It disgusts me that people deliberately pay money to take care of troops who served in the North and massacred our people. I think they are sick.
Tears were shed in Sligo, Trieste. Salzburg, Nottingham and Minsk by mothers, wives and children. They were all victims of bombastic madness and criminal arrogance. The poppy however only represents those from one country and does so in a pompous and imperious way bathed in self-righteousness that has more to do with chest-thumping jingoism than any genuine feeling of learning from that universal carnage to develop a wisdom as to how we might make the world better. The British military-whose actions the poppy eulogizes committed atrocities in Ireland right up to the present era and has no place what so ever in Ireland. We have our own memorial day to remember Irish victims of wars. We have no need to indulge the ‘poppy mania’ of the football terrace mob who abused James Maclean for not wearing a symbol, implicitly praising those who committed murder in his own Irish city. If the British want to wear it-that s their affair. It has no place here.
@John Sullivan: the original poem was written by a Canadian and the Poppy was first worn in America before being brought to the UK by the French. People should wear or not wear what they want, but the history should be understood. I personally would not wear anything that symbolised the oppression and murder of our people. I’m not convinced that the poppy truly symbolises this but if we ( the Irish) see it as such, an education is required before acceptance. Including my own.
@John Sullivan: your opinion of whom the poppy represents is incomplete. The brits were one of the last to adopt it. Sorry.
@Emma Crowe: thank you, finally someone posting facts.
@Ciarán Corrigan: Yes this is indeed so….But it has become an exclusively British Empire symbol…with all the baggage that goes with it. It is not worn in Italy, Germany, Russia etc. Yes-historically that is the case-but it has been reduced to an imperial symbol to the point where thugs tried to attack a player for not wanting to wear one. That sums up what it has become. It is not the fault of the flower…a very beautiful flower or the poet.
Never
No definitely would not wear one. The fact our politicians wear one is disgusting.
What would the figures be if you took South County Dublin away?
They won’t even wear an Easter Lily so why should they consider wearing a poppy.
No. I can’t believe the poll results were actually that close.
@John kane: Me too. I guess that means it was useful.
@John kane: I find it difficult. Haven’t seen one person wear it on the the streets.
This is the problem. It’s not about WW1 anymore. It’s all British wars, home and abroad. I’ll pass thanks.
I’m quite divided in this issue too. I think there should be a emblem for the Irish who lost their lives. Like maybe a green poppy ?
@Billy Cronin: there is one
@Billy Cronin: or maybe a Lilly. Ohh wait we already have that
@Billy Cronin: Perhaps some sort of other flower… and people could wear it around easter time to commemorate the Easter rising…A lily perhaps, it could be green white and orange…………….
Haven’t they more important issues they should be working on…
@Jonhayes38: they are not working on it, it’s a poll on the telly, we go through this shite every November.
@Dermot Lane: This shyte only started within the last 10 years. Makes you wonder just how deeply the British state has infiltrated into all aspects of Irish life.
How about let them make their own choice.
I’m not going to criticize any politician for choosing to wear one or for choosing not to wear one.
Irish people asking other Irish people deliberately provocative questions but the commentators still manage to blame the British for it. I’ll be wearing a poppy because I’m British, but no Irish person should ever wear one. Nothing to do with you.
@Robin Pickering: you probably should be saying that to your own countrymen.
@Robin Pickering: Have you any idea how many Irishmen fought and died in WW1? Its up to us how we remember our family dead and the RBL do not own the image of the poppy. I would never buy one off them but wear an old metal one.
@Robin Pickering: i agree with your sentiment, but you’re factually inaccurate. Its an American remembrance symbol that was brought to England via France and adopted by the British legion. If I was in England I would wear one.
Let’s all Renee with dignity, poppy or no poppy, have a good day.
@Robin Pickering: robin yesterday you were trying to be provocative about the British isles saying we’re not foreigners but today it has nothing to do it with us & we shouldnt wear one.so maybe you should tell the rest of your country men to stop trying to shame people into wearing a flower dedicated to British wars.
Every year with this nonsense.
It’s no longer about people that faught in the first world war, it’s about all British soldiers that faught in all conflicts. Which would include the soldiers involved in bloody Sunday.
@Do the Bort man: In which case it also includes the generation that fought to end Nazi Germany and the Holocaust like my father. He never recovered from the sights and smells of Bergen-Belsen.
I think the wearing of the poppy is the devisive issue,in itself,and not the Irish people’s perception of it.Unless I’m wrong,the poppy commemorates deceased Black and Tan,Auxiliary and the Derry ‘Bloody Sunday’ Parachute Regiment participants,among others.Its not just the First World War dead.
World War one was a European war fought by many European nations and commonwealth countries with the sole purpose that claimed it was a War to end all Wars so all nations would have there own statehood and above all PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND but not to be as we see a hundred years later. It is not a British War on foreign land. It was a war Of CHANGE for CHANGE. I WOULD WEAR THE POPPY FOR THAT IDEALISM OF ALL WHO FOUGHT AND SADLY DIED FOR THE DREAM THAT NEVER SAW ITS FRUTATION
@Thomas Corrigan: poppy isn’t for all that fell. It’s just for the Brits that fell. And it isn’t just for WW1, it’s for all their wars, vast majority of which terrorised indigenous populations around the world.
@Thomas Corrigan: They removed WW1 from the Junior Cert curriculum at some stage and the lack of general education is starting to show. For shame.
@Cormac Ó Braonáin: sorry Cormac, it’s not correct.
Why don’t they wear a white poppy, instead, to commemorate all the civilian dead, of all armed conflicts?
What the hell happened to individual choice???
Nobody SHOULD be made to do or wear anything. But if they want to, that should be totally up the individual to decide.
@Colm O’Sullivan: exactly and not feel threatened or get abused for it
I’ve never seen a single Irish person wear one in cork…..
As an #IrishArmy veteran (now living in #UK) I’ll be parading with fellow vets in #London this weekend who see the #PoppyAppeal for what it is (militaristic bul) we’ll not be wearing red poppy’s or our medals (white poppy’s maybe! https://ppu.org.uk) Given the current political situation on these islands it’s my contribution to build peace. #Armistice100
No
To support Soldiers who Murdered Irish citizens and usually got promoted as a result!! No way..
Let’s try and remember the poppy was adopted by the United States as a symbol of remembrance . A French lady adopted Ivan’s brought it to Europe and her people sold them in England to raise money.
It is NOT British
Wear one, don’t wear one, remember with dignity
Yes we divided about the wrong issues.
Unfortunately we make up our minds at the ballot box in the same way expecting different results.
The poppy is only a form of UK government propaganda by using the dead to justify future wars, these wars and soldiers are suppose to be remembered by using a poppy because the soldiers use to use poppy seeds in order to mask their hunger and starvation. Their pockets were full of poppy seeds because they ate them due to a chemical in the seed that hides the pains that come with starvation. When these soldiers were killed and rotted into no mans land and surrounding area then these poppy seeds would stay in the soil until the right conditions led to them germinating and then flowering. That is why the poppy symbolised WW1, not such a great propaganda tool for war once you know the workings behind it.
Also remember WW1 was a war started between European Royals who were the inbred cousins of each other fighting for resources in colonies but with the war taking place in Europe and it was this war that lead directly to WW2 as well.
Also remember that many Irish soldiers who came home from WW1 ended up joining the IRA and that in England in 1919 returning English soldiers had such a riot that England nearly had its own Communist revolution then and it was by luck England didn’t become communist in 1919.
Even today in the UK their government thinks more about the poppy and using it to celebrate wars with stories about heroic deaths and yet since WW1 the UK government has never really looked after the well being of its soldiers as Afghanistan and the Iraqi wars have shown. Even in WW1 soldiers suffering from shell shock / PTSD were shot as cowards by their own rank as their generals were miles away in safety or as the saying goes from the time lions led by donkeys?
The British army was always an army that England used as mercenaries in wars from slavery, coffee, spice trade to oil, it was an army working for businesses and the Iraqi war proves this for many as many sees it as a war for Iraqi oil.
Also the poppy has a closer touch with Ireland especially with its links to N. Ireland with British army soldiers working with loyalist paramilitaries to kill Catholics or even to torture them and that also happened in Dublin well before Ireland was partitioned as 1916 and all the Bloody Sundays can testify to.
Remember also Loyalist paramilitaries also use the poppy as well to remember their dead and see them equal to soldiers in the British army.
So how can we wear a symbol that has so much innocent blood attached to it especially when it is a reminder of the evils the British army has done in Ireland since before 1916 and also a symbol that represents returning Irish soldiers who then joined the IRA. The poppy is just an excuse for the UK to justify future wars, it’s a propaganda tool using selective history to rewrite past history and a tool to recruit soldiers as mercenaries and if they survive then they can be future propaganda for their Invictus games. Where they are told being shot or blown up is for their national security as they invade and steal that countries natural resources for their own business mens profits and we are suppose to do the same? Are we not a neutral country, why do we need to celebrate other countries wars unless its to help with PESCO?
The poor Irish squaddies were used as cannon fodder…
Ah it’s a no from me dawg!
It’s a British & commonwelth tradition, as we are neither , why would or should we wear a poppy.
@Tim Oconnell: To plead for forgiveness for our independence from England lol.
#groundhogday
Nope
Why
@Margaret Kane: Because dying in war for greedy politicians who want profits is glorious???
Nope not in a Mickey fit
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