We just figured out how to refurbish our livers! There are more people who need liver transplants than the number of donated livers. And some donated livers aren't transplanted because they might not be healthy enough for reuse. 

But from a study from May of 2022 shows how we can rehabilitate damaged organs to save lives. In this study, the liver was originally rejected for donation because it had a lesion and came from a sick donor. So the paper's authors got to work running cold, oxygenated blood through the liver and applying antimicrobial agents to prevent infection.

They removed the potentially damaging immune cells and kept it viable outside the body for days. After 24 hours, liver function improved to more than 1.5 times what it was before treatment. And after three days, it was ready for implantation.

And a year after that transplant, the patient is still going strong. Which leads me to think: Can they take out my liver and just fix it up a little bit and put it back in? I don't know how it's doing, but I feel like it could use a tune up.