--- title: "Scientists Keep Human Livers Alive In Machine For a Week" description: "A team of researchers from the University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland have found a way to keep human livers alive for an entire week outside the body." date: "2020-01-14" modified: "2020-01-14" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-human-livers-alive-machine-week" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "human organs" - "livers" - "organ donor" --- # Scientists Keep Human Livers Alive In Machine For a Week ![A team of researchers from the University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland have found a way to keep human livers alive for an entire week outside the body.]() *\Image: Images via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* A team of researchers from the University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland [say they've invented a machine]() that can increase the length of time a human liver can be kept alive outside body from just a few hours to an entire week. The breakthrough could make a much larger number of donor livers available to a wider variety of patients in need of a transplant. The machine even appears to heal damaged livers. In [a paper]() published in *Nature Biotechnology* on Monday, the researchers wrote that six out of ten poor-quality livers that would've been otherwise rejected at European hospitals made a full recovery after spending a week inside a specially designed "perfusion system." The basic idea behind the perfusion machine is to mimic core body functions as closely as possible. It features an artificial heart, pancreas, lung, kidneys, bowels, and even an artificial diaphragm, [*New Atlas* reports](). It can simulate glucose level control, waste-product removal, and the maintenance of red blood count, among other functions. "The success of this unique perfusion system — developed over a four-year period by a group of surgeons, biologists and engineers — paves the way for many new applications in transplantation and cancer medicine helping patients with no liver grafts available," said lead author Pierre-Alain Clavien in a statement. Four years ago, the machine could keep livers alive outside the body for just 12 hours. By testing it on 70 pig livers, they were able to refine it to keep the organs alive for a week. It could be an important step toward making a much larger number of donor livers available to patients — but the technology isn't quite ready to use for transplantation yet, [according to *Popular Mechanics*](). ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()