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Protective organ wash engineered
"It can be expected to almost double the life of a graft,"
- Professor Steve Sacks from the Medical Research Council (MRC)
Scientists say they have developed a technique that could extend the life of a kidney transplant significantly.
At the moment, fewer than 50% of grafts are still working after a decade inside the patient.
The new approach involves washing the organ in an engineered drug solution during the transfer from the donor to the recipient.
The British Science Festival was told that the solution gives protection to the organ from the immune system.
"It can be expected to almost double the life of a graft," said Professor Steve Sacks from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Transplantation at King's College London.