News and Events

Scientists discover how to freeze transplant organs without cracking them

Researchers may have found the key to freezing organs without breaking them—bringing “on-demand” transplants closer than ever.

Scientists are making a major leap toward freezing organs for future use without damaging them. A new study reveals that one of the biggest obstacles—cracking during ultra-cold preservation—can be reduced by carefully tuning the temperature at which tissues enter a glass-like state. This breakthrough builds on recent successes in cryopreserved organ transplants and could bring the long-imagined idea of “banking” organs for later use much closer to reality.

A new discovery shows that adjusting key temperatures during cryopreservation can prevent organs from cracking as they freeze. This could help make long-term organ storage—and future transplants—far more feasible. Credit: Shutterstock Cryopreservation, the process of preserving biological tissue by cooling it to extremely low temperatures, often sounds like something out of science fiction. In reality, scientists have been studying and refining this technique for nearly a century. Progress remained slow for decades, but that began to change in 2023, when researchers at the University of Minnesota successfully transplanted a cryopreserved kidney into another rat. That milestone demonstrated that frozen organs could one day be used in human transplants.