Imagine a world where failing organs don't mean the end of life, but a chance for a revolutionary fix—right at home or on the go. That's the bold vision driving a new venture, and it's sparking debates about the future of medicine. But here's where it gets really intriguing...
Former Neuralink executive Max Hodak, who helped shape the groundbreaking brain-computer interface company before stepping away in 2021, has founded Science Corporation—a startup in Alameda, California, that's now venturing into a groundbreaking new area. While Neuralink focuses on linking brains to machines, Science is pivoting to something equally life-changing: preserving and extending the life of human organs. And yes, we're talking about actual vital organs, not just brains.
At its core, Science aims to enhance existing perfusion technologies. For beginners, perfusion simply means circulating blood or a nourishing fluid through organs to keep them functioning when the body can't do it alone. This is crucial for organ transplants, where donors' organs need to stay viable during transport, or as a temporary life-support system for patients whose hearts or lungs have shut down. Current systems, however, are far from perfect—they're bulky, expensive to operate, and often tie patients to hospital beds. Science is developing a compact, portable version that could offer long-term support, potentially changing how we handle critical illnesses.
Up until now, Science has been immersed in neural interfaces and restoring vision. They're innovating a 'biohybrid' system that employs living neurons instead of traditional wires to interface with the brain. More urgently, the company is commercializing a retinal implant that has restored partial sight to individuals with severe macular degeneration. This implant, which Science acquired in 2024 from the struggling French firm Pixium Vision, lets patients read letters, numbers, and even words—a feat that's put them ahead of Elon Musk's Neuralink in tackling vision loss. As Hodak puts it, both neural tech and organ preservation are fundamentally about extending life, aligning with the company's overarching longevity goals.
Hodak co-founded Neuralink with Musk and others back in 2016, then departed to lead Science as CEO. Since launching, the company has secured around $290 million in funding, per Pitchbook's data.
What sparked Hodak's passion for organ preservation? It was a heart-wrenching story of a 17-year-old boy in Boston battling cystic fibrosis, whose lungs failed. He was kept alive on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO—a perfusion method that acts as a bridge for patients awaiting transplants. ECMO circulates blood outside the body to oxygenate it, supporting those whose own lungs and hearts have stopped. But after two months on the transplant list, a complication disqualified him, leaving doctors and his family in an agonizing ethical bind: continue ECMO as a short-term fix, or let it go? The machine eventually failed, and the boy passed away. This real-life tragedy highlighted ECMO's limitations—it's pricey, running thousands of dollars daily, and patients are confined to hospitals, tethered to large, wheeled carts needing constant monitoring and tweaks. Not every facility can afford or maintain them, especially during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic when they were vital for lung failure.
And this is the part most people miss—Hodak wonders aloud if we could make this tech as simple as checking a kidney as luggage on a flight or letting that boy carry a portable backpack for support at home, instead of facing withdrawal.
Beyond ECMO, perfusion for organ transplants is also cumbersome. Take TransMedics, based in Massachusetts; their system costs about $250,000 for the device plus $40,000 to $80,000 per use. For long hauls, organs might even travel via private jets to stay fresh.
Science's small team has crafted a prototype from the ground up, successfully keeping rabbit kidneys viable outside the body for up to 48 hours—an impressive start. Hodak shares they're pushing to extend that to a full month by next spring. For context, human kidneys can last 24 to 36 hours on ice without perfusion, with some machines stretching viability to four days or more.
This new division fits seamlessly into Science's roadmap; with about 170 employees, it was always on the horizon, but they needed proof-of-concept to commit fully. Their prototype shines with integrated sensors for real-time tracking of blood oxygenation, flow, pressure, and temperature, plus a modular setup for swapping parts to suit different organs. Closed-loop controls automate adjustments, unlike manual ECMO systems.
Of course, Science isn't alone—numerous companies are developing automated perfusion for transplants, though these often demand high costs and specialized training. Hodak doesn't have a set price target yet, but affordability is key to bridging the gap between potential and practice. As he notes, there's a huge disparity between what this tech can do and how it's used today. Closing it could shift us from traditional medicine's challenges to a future of replaceable parts—like swapping out failing organs with ease.
But here's where it gets controversial—could this lead to a society where organs are treated like commodities, or even prolong suffering unnecessarily? What if portable systems make life support too accessible, blurring lines between life and death? Do we risk over-relying on tech at the expense of addressing root causes like disease prevention? Share your thoughts: Are you excited about this potential leap in medicine, or do you see ethical red flags? Agree or disagree in the comments—we'd love to hear your take!
