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Transplanted hearts adjust their biological age to that of their host
What happens to organs when they are transplanted? Hearts from young donors age rapidly in the bodies of older recipients, and older hearts are rejuvenated inside young people, according to a study1. The findings, posted on the preprint server bioRxiv and not yet peer reviewed, imply that replacement organs could be sourced from older people than they are at present. Heart transplants are being performed more and more frequently around the world, and in ever older people, partly because people are living longer. In the United States, for example, there were a total of 4,636 heart transplants in 2024 — 81.5% more than in 2013. Still, hundreds of people around the world die each year while on waiting lists for new organs. This has led to efforts to transplant organs grown in pigs into people, and, in many places, guidelines have been altered to expand the number of human hearts available for transplant. Generally, donors younger than 45 years old are recommended, although older ones who don’t show signs of significant coronary artery disease are also considered. Now, Jesse Poganik, who studies ageing at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, and his colleagues have investigated how donor hearts change their biological...
