Sea worm oxygen-saving technology may preserve organs before transplants

A French biotechnology firm has discovered and developed a product that is currently being tested for use in human transplants. The product, called “Hemo to Life”,  is created from a sea worm, scientifically known as Arenicola marina. The organism is some 450 million years old and can survive for several hours without oxygen under ocean sand. Scientists have identified within the worm a special haemoglobin molecule that is capable of stabilising oxygen 40 times more than human haemoglobin. The company is seeking to use this feature to bring more oxygen to transplanted organs during surgery.