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The Next Frontier for mRNA Could Be Healing Damaged Organs


Researchers are testing the use of mRNA to get damaged livers to repair themselves, in a move that could one day lessen the need for organ transplants.

On a recent Thursday afternoon, researchers Lanuza Faccioli and Zhiping Hu wheeled an inconspicuous black and white plastic cooler from an operating room at a hospital in downtown Pittsburgh. Faccioli and Hu are part of a University of Pittsburgh team led by Alejandro Soto-Gutiérrez attempting to revive badly damaged livers like these—as well as kidneys, hearts, and lungs. On the day I visited, I followed Faccioli and Hu through a maze of hallways until they deposited the freshly explanted liver at a pathology lab, where a team of scientists was anticipating the special delivery.

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