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Making pig livers humanlike in quest to ease organ shortage

CORRECTS COMPANY NAME TO MIROMATRIX NOT MICROMATRIX - A pig kidney that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Miromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. This is a pig kidney that's gradually being transformed to look and act like a human one, part of scientists' long quest to ease the nation's transplant shortage by bioengineering replacement organs. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

CORRECTS COMPANY NAME TO MIROMATRIX NOT MICROMATRIX - A pig liver growing in a bioreactors in a Miromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

CORRECTS COMPANY NAME TO MIROMATRIX NOT MICROMATRIX - A technician replaces media in a bioreactors containing pig kidneys in a Miromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

CORRECTS COMPANY NAME TO MIROMATRIX NOT MICROMATRIX - A pig kidney grows in a bioreactor in a Miromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

CORRECTS COMPANY NAME TO MIROMATRIX NOT MICROMATRIX - A label on a bioreactor indicates it contains a pig kidney in a Miromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

CORRECTS COMPANY NAME TO MIROMATRIX NOT MICROMATRIX - Technicians work with pig livers growing in a bioreactors in a Miromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

CORRECTS COMPANY NAME TO MIROMATRIX NOT MICROMATRIX - Technicians add cells to media that will be used to add cells to the organs growing in bioreactors in a Miromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. Stripping away the pig cells removes some of the risks of xenotransplantation, such as lurking animal viruses or hyper-rejection, says Jeff Ross, CEO of Miromatrix. The FDA already considers the decellurized pig tissue safe for another purpose, using it to make a type of surgical mesh. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

CORRECTS COMPANY NAME TO MIROMATRIX NOT MICROMATRIX - A technician works with bioreactors containing pig kidneys in a Miromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. Workers dissolve pig cells that made the organ function, leaving ghostly semi-translucent scaffolds floating in large jars. To complete the metamorphisis, they infuse those shells with human cells. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

CORRECTS COMPANY NAME TO MIROMATRIX NOT MICROMATRIX - A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Miromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. The first step for workers in this suburban Minneapolis lab is to shampoo away the pig cells that made the organ do its work, its color gradually fading as the cells dissolve and are flushed out. What’s left is a rubbery scaffolding, a honeycomb structure of the liver, its blood vessels now empty. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

Jeff Ross, CEO of Miromatrix, leads a team working towards developing organs that may someday be used in humans at the headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. “We essentially regrow the organ,” says Ross, CEO of Miromatrix. “Our bodies won’t see it as a pig organ anymore.” (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig liver growing in a bioreactors in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A technician replaces media in a bioreactors containing pig kidneys in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig kidney grows in a bioreactor in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A label on a bioreactor indicates it contains a pig kidney in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

Technicians work with pig livers growing in a bioreactors in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

Technicians add cells to media that will be used to add cells to the organs growing in bioreactors in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. Stripping away the pig cells removes some of the risks of xenotransplantation, such as lurking animal viruses or hyper-rejection, says Jeff Ross, CEO of Miromatrix. The FDA already considers the decellurized pig tissue safe for another purpose, using it to make a type of surgical mesh. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A technician works with bioreactors containing pig kidneys in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. Workers dissolve pig cells that made the organ function, leaving ghostly semi-translucent scaffolds floating in large jars. To complete the metamorphisis, they infuse those shells with human cells. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

A pig kidney that has been "decelled" is held by a technician in a Micromatrix laboratory on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Eden Prairie, Minn. This is a pig kidney that's gradually being transformed to look and act like a human one, part of scientists' long quest to ease the nation's transplant shortage by bioengineering replacement organs. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)

Making pig livers humanlike in quest to ease organ shortage