A transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image shows the iron oxide nanoparticles coated in a mesoporous silica that are used in the tissue warming process. Haynes research group, University of Minnesota

Previous research successfully thawed tiny biological samples that were only 1 to 3 milliliters in volume. This new technique works for samples that are up to 50 milliliters in size. The researchers said there is a strong possibility they could scale up their technique to even larger systems, such as organs.

"We are at the level of

However, this research will likely not make it possible to return

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Since the first successful

Right now, the majority of organs that could potentially be used for transplants are discarded, in large part because they can only be safely preserved for 4 to 36 hours. If only half the hearts and lungs that are discarded were successfully transplanted, the waitlists for those organs could be eliminated in two to three years, according to the Organ Preservation Alliance.

One way to save donated organs for transplantation is to freeze them.

Unfortunately, ice crystals can also form during the reheating process. Moreover, if thawing is not uniform across samples, fracturing or cracking may occur. Although scientists had developed methods to safely use freezing-cold temperatures to

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In future research, scientists will attempt to transplant thawed tissues into living animals to see how well they do. "From my perspective and my collaborators' perspective, there is no reason why that should not work," Bischof told Live Science.

However, the researchers stressed that it was unlikely these findings would apply to the

"Even if you preserved the whole body, the chances that neural pathways established during life were maintained during and after cryopreservation are probably remote," said study co-author Kelvin Brockbank, chief executive officer of Tissue Testing Technologies in North Charleston, South Carolina. "I don't think we'll see success for rewarming whole bodies within the next hundred years."

The scientists detailed

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