Mitochondrial transplantation

Mitochondrial transplantation means physically moving healthy, working mitochondria (the cell's power plants) into cells or organs whose own mitochondria are failing, for example after a loss of blood flow. The donor mitochondria can come from your own tissue or a donor's. The best-documented use is in children's heart surgery. McCully and colleagues at Boston Children's Hospital reported in 2017 (JTCVS) that injecting a child's own mitochondria into oxygen-starved heart muscle improved heart function in kids on ECMO support after surgery. A larger 2020 case series (24 patients) showed 80% came off ECMO successfully versus 29% of controls. This use is now in early clinical study (NCT02851758). How the cells actually take up the mitochondria is still being worked out (proposed routes include several forms of engulfing and direct membrane fusion), as is how long the transplanted mitochondria survive. Using this for aging is purely hypothetical. In animal studies, infusing mitochondria into the bloodstream has been reported to improve muscle and brain markers in old rodents, but the right route, source, dose, and safety for aging are not established, and there is no approved aging use.

Last reviewed: June 22, 2026

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