First Successful Transatlantic Organ Transplantation
Outcome/Accomplishment
In April 2026, researchers at Mass General Brigham (MGB) Inc., a Boston-based health care system, and their collaborators at the Paris Institute for Transplantation and Organ Regeneration (PITOR) in France achieved a major milestone in organ preservation by performing the first successful transatlantic transport and transplantation of a partially frozen pig kidney with long-term survival. The organ was partially frozen and stored at -15℃ in Boston, MA, transported across the Atlantic to Poitiers, France, then successfully thawed, recovered, and transplanted into a pig with graft survival for a week. MGB is a partner institution of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio), based at the University of Minnesota.
Impact/Benefits
The kidney (see figure) demonstrated immediate function after transplantation, producing urine within minutes. The recipient animal maintained normal creatinine, urine output, and potassium and lactate levels throughout the 7-day study period. This achievement shows that worldwide distribution of frozen donor organs is feasible. In so doing, it advances NSF ATP-Bio’s mission of overcoming the global organ shortage by transforming organ preservation from the current race against time into a scalable organ-banking resource for transplantation when needed.
Partial-freezing technology has the potential to dramatically extend preservation times, which will improve all aspects of the transplantation ecosystem by allowing better donor-recipient matching, enabling elective surgical scheduling, reducing organ discard rates, lowering health care costs, and—most importantly—improving outcomes for organ transplant recipients.
Explanation/Background
The study was led by Prof. Korkut Uygun, ATP-Bio’s Director of Convergent Research; former ATP-Bio trainee and now Massachusetts General Hospital Laboratory Manager and microsurgeon Casie Pendexter; and transplant surgeon Dr. Alban Longchamp of MGB. The U.S. team worked in collaboration with Prof. Alexandre Loupy and collaborators at PITOR; the National Institute for Research in Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE); and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) in France. This international collaboration represents a major step toward establishing a global cryosupply chain for organs, demonstrating for the first time that frozen organs can be transported between and across continents while retaining transplant viability.
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesotawebsite
Start Year
Biotechnology and Healthcare
Lead Institution
Core Partners
Fact Sheet
Outcome/Accomplishment
In April 2026, researchers at Mass General Brigham (MGB) Inc., a Boston-based health care system, and their collaborators at the Paris Institute for Transplantation and Organ Regeneration (PITOR) in France achieved a major milestone in organ preservation by performing the first successful transatlantic transport and transplantation of a partially frozen pig kidney with long-term survival. The organ was partially frozen and stored at -15℃ in Boston, MA, transported across the Atlantic to Poitiers, France, then successfully thawed, recovered, and transplanted into a pig with graft survival for a week. MGB is a partner institution of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio), based at the University of Minnesota.
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesotawebsite
Start Year
Biotechnology and Healthcare
Lead Institution
Core Partners
Fact Sheet
Impact/benefits
The kidney (see figure) demonstrated immediate function after transplantation, producing urine within minutes. The recipient animal maintained normal creatinine, urine output, and potassium and lactate levels throughout the 7-day study period. This achievement shows that worldwide distribution of frozen donor organs is feasible. In so doing, it advances NSF ATP-Bio’s mission of overcoming the global organ shortage by transforming organ preservation from the current race against time into a scalable organ-banking resource for transplantation when needed.
Partial-freezing technology has the potential to dramatically extend preservation times, which will improve all aspects of the transplantation ecosystem by allowing better donor-recipient matching, enabling elective surgical scheduling, reducing organ discard rates, lowering health care costs, and—most importantly—improving outcomes for organ transplant recipients.
Explanation/Background
The study was led by Prof. Korkut Uygun, ATP-Bio’s Director of Convergent Research; former ATP-Bio trainee and now Massachusetts General Hospital Laboratory Manager and microsurgeon Casie Pendexter; and transplant surgeon Dr. Alban Longchamp of MGB. The U.S. team worked in collaboration with Prof. Alexandre Loupy and collaborators at PITOR; the National Institute for Research in Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE); and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) in France. This international collaboration represents a major step toward establishing a global cryosupply chain for organs, demonstrating for the first time that frozen organs can be transported between and across continents while retaining transplant viability.