عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Russian Scientists Revive Frog’s Heart after 45 Days of Freezing

A research scientist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife pushes a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag under the skin of an Oregon spotted frog that will help in tracking the juvenile frog raised at the Woodland Park Zoo. AP file photo
A research scientist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife pushes a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag under the skin of an Oregon spotted frog that will help in tracking the juvenile frog raised at the Woodland Park Zoo. AP file photo
TT
TT

Russian Scientists Revive Frog’s Heart after 45 Days of Freezing

A research scientist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife pushes a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag under the skin of an Oregon spotted frog that will help in tracking the juvenile frog raised at the Woodland Park Zoo. AP file photo
A research scientist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife pushes a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag under the skin of an Oregon spotted frog that will help in tracking the juvenile frog raised at the Woodland Park Zoo. AP file photo

Russian scientists have managed to revive the heart of a frog after freezing it for 45 days as part of experiments aiming to prolong the period during which an organ is able to function normally and vitally.

This achievement is a significant development in the organ transplant field that would contribute in saving people’s lives.

Organ transplants such as kidneys and heart had long been a fictional idea. However, such transplants are currently practiced in hospitals in many countries.

But transplant scientists and surgeons now face a challenge in the ability of maintaining a specific organ functional after removing it from the donor. For instance, the period during which the heart muscle can be preserved before transferring it to the patient is not more than 6 hours, and this timeframe may not be sufficient for the transfer.

Studies indicate that doctors spoil about 60 percent of the organs that were preserved to be used later to treat patients, because of the time factor. Cells begin to lose capacity to carry out their vital functions, turning the organs useless.

The Russian Advanced Research Foundation has launched a scientific project aimed at developing a modern method to preserve human organs for an unlimited period of time without affecting their vital functions.

In the course of the experiments, scientists froze the heart of a frog and kept it at a temperature of -196 degrees Celsius for a month and a half, and then revived it. The post-revival tests showed that the heart was able to function vitally.

The head of the design team working on this project, Anatoly Kovtun, said that the success of these experiments would revolutionize the transfer of organs and transplant.

Finding a solution to the time challenge may help establish a "bank of frozen organs", which may save the lives of thousands of patients, he added in a press statement.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Storm Dumps Record Rain in Northern California, While US Northeast Deals with Winter Storms

A pedestrian walks along a flooded street during a storm Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Santa Rosa, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
A pedestrian walks along a flooded street during a storm Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Santa Rosa, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
TT
TT

Storm Dumps Record Rain in Northern California, While US Northeast Deals with Winter Storms

A pedestrian walks along a flooded street during a storm Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Santa Rosa, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
A pedestrian walks along a flooded street during a storm Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Santa Rosa, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A major storm dropped more snow and record rain in California, causing small landslides and flooding some streets, while on the opposite side of the country blizzard or winter storm warnings were in effect Saturday for areas spanning from the Northeast to central Appalachia.
The storm on the West Coast arrived in the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, killing two people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, mostly in the Seattle area, before its strong winds moved through Northern California, The Associated Press reported.
Santa Rosa, California, saw its wettest three-day period on record with about 12.5 inches (32 centimeters) of rain falling by Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service in the Bay Area.
Flooding closed part of scenic Highway 1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway, in Mendocino County and there was no estimate for when it would reopen, according to the California Department of Transportation.
On the East Coast, another storm brought much-needed rain to New York and New Jersey, where rare wildfires have raged in recent weeks, and heavy snow to northeastern Pennsylvania. Parts of West Virginia were under a blizzard warning through Saturday morning, with up to 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow and high winds making travel treacherous.
As residents in the Seattle area headed into the weekend, more than 112,000 people were still without power from this season’s strongest atmospheric river — a long plume of moisture that forms over an ocean and flows through the sky over land. Crews worked to clear streets of downed lines, branches and other debris, while cities opened warming centers so people heading into their fourth day without power could get warm food and plug in their cellphones and other devices.
Gale warnings were issued off Washington, Oregon and California, and high wind warnings were in effect across parts of Northern California and Oregon. There were winter storm warnings for parts of the California Cascades and the Sierra Nevada.
Forecasters predicted that both coasts would begin to see a reprieve from the storms as the system in the northeast moves into eastern Canada and the one in the West heads south.
By Friday night, some relief was already being seen in California, where the sheriff’s office in Humboldt County downgraded evacuation orders to warnings for people near the Eel River after forecasters said the waterway would see moderate but not major flooding.
The system roared ashore on the West Coast on Tuesday as a “ bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly. It unleashed fierce winds that toppled trees onto roads, vehicles and homes.
Debra Campbell said she was sitting in the dark with a flashlight that night, unable to sleep as strong winds lashed her house in Crescent City, California. With a massive boom, a 150-foot (46-meter) tree came crashing down on her home and car.
“It was just so incredibly frightening,” AP quoted Campbell as saying. “Once I realized it wasn’t going to come through the ceiling where I was at, I was able to grab my car keys and my purse. ... And I open the front door and it’s just solid tree.”
In the Northeast, which has been hit by drought, more than 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain was expected by Saturday morning north of New York City, with snow mixed in at higher elevations.
Despite the mess, the precipitation was expected to help ease drought conditions in a state that has seen an exceptionally dry fall.
“It’s not going to be a drought buster, but it’s definitely going to help when all this melts,” said Bryan Greenblatt, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Binghamton, New York.
Heavy snow fell in northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains, prompting a raft of school closures. Higher elevations reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with lesser accumulations in valley cities like Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. More than 85,000 customers in 10 counties lost power, and the state transportation department imposed speed restrictions on some highways.