Former Neuralink Exec Launches Organ Preservation Effort

Scientific society, the The brain-computer interface startup founded in 2021 by former Neuralink president Max Hodak is launching a new division of the company with the goal of extending the lifespan of human organs. And no, no brains.

Science, based in Alameda, California, aims to improve current perfusion systems that continuously circulate blood to vital organs when they can no longer function on their own. The technology is used to preserve organs for transplantation and as a lifesaving measure for patients when the heart and lungs stop working, but it is bulky and expensive. Science wants to create a smaller, more portable system that can provide long-term support.

So far, science has focused on neural interfaces and vision restoration. The company is working on a “biohybrid” interface that uses living neurons instead of wires to connect to the brain. More immediately, it is seeking to commercialize its retinal implant, which has successfully restored some vision in patients with advanced macular degeneration, allowing them to read letters, numbers and words. Science acquired the implant in 2024 from French startup Pixium Vision, on the verge of bankruptcy, and beat out Elon Musk’s Neuralink to develop an implant for vision loss.

“In some sense, they’re both longevity technologies, and that’s the point of neural interfaces and this,” Hodak says of organ perfusion.

Hodak co-founded Neuralink with Musk and others in 2016, but left in 2021 to launch Science and serve as its CEO. Since its inception, Science has raised about $290 million, according to venture capital database Pitchbook.

Hodak got the idea to work on organ preservation after reading about a 17-year-old boy in Boston whose lungs were failing due to cystic fibrosis. He was supported by a type of perfusion called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, while waiting for a transplant. But after two months on the waiting list, he developed a complication that made him ineligible for a transplant. His doctors and parents were faced with the ethical dilemma of keeping him alive on ECMO, meant to serve as a short-term bridge. Eventually, the machine’s oxygenator began to fail and doctors opted not to replace it. Shortly after, the boy lost consciousness and died.

Used during the Covid-19 pandemic for patients whose lungs were failing, ECMO machines are expensive and very resource-intensive. They cost thousands of dollars a day to operate and patients are attached to them in the hospital. Consisting of a large circuit of tubes that must be moved on a bedside cart, they require constant monitoring and frequent manual adjustments. Due to their high cost, not all hospitals have them.