Dying organs get shot at new life in novel experiment

Fresh mitochondria can revive flagging cells and enable them to recover quickly

Ms Kate Bowen with her infant, Georgia, in the intensive care unit at Boston Children's Hospital last month. Georgia had had a heart attack, most likely while she was still in the womb, and her heart was profoundly damaged. Doctors tried to revive he
Ms Kate Bowen with her infant, Georgia, in the intensive care unit at Boston Children's Hospital last month. Georgia had had a heart attack, most likely while she was still in the womb, and her heart was profoundly damaged. Doctors tried to revive her heart with an infusion of one billion mitochondria. PHOTO: NYTIMES
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When Georgia Bowen was born by emergency caesarean on May 18, she took a breath, threw her arms in the air, cried twice, and went into cardiac arrest.

The baby had had a heart attack, most likely while she was still in the womb. Her heart was profoundly damaged; a large portion of the muscle was dead, or nearly so, leading to the cardiac arrest.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 12, 2018, with the headline Dying organs get shot at new life in novel experiment. Subscribe