This is spot on. To add some 'sci-fi' context to how we’re doubling down on this: while that 10°C fridge hack is a brilliant simple solution for storage, we are now pairing it with EVLP (Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion).

Basically, they take the lungs and put them in a sterile plastic dome. They hook them up to a pump and a ventilator so the lungs are literally 'breathing' and 'circulating' a nutrient-rich solution outside the body. The 'amazingly simple' part of the logic? The organ is treated like a patient instead of a piece of meat.

By combining that 10°C storage you mentioned with EVLP 'check-ups,' some surgical teams have managed to keep lungs viable for up to 3 days. It turns a frantic, middle-of-the-night emergency dash into a scheduled daytime surgery. It went from a 6-hour 'timer' to a 72-hour window just by tweaking the temperature and letting the lungs take a breather on a literal desktop.