A Pilot Turns to Science
In 1930, just three years after crossing the Atlantic solo, Charles Lindbergh quietly walked into the Rockefeller Institute in New York. This time, he wasn’t chasing the sky—he was searching for a way to keep human organs alive outside the body.
Driven by a family tragedy and deep curiosity, Lindbergh joined forces with Nobel Prize-winning surgeon Alexis Carrel. Together, they developed an 18-inch glass device that circulated oxygenated fluid through isolated organs. While nearly forgotten today, the invention earned its creators the cover of Time and a place in medical history.
A Heart Problem Sparks an Idea
Lindbergh’s interest in biology began when his sister-in-law fell ill with heart disease. He asked her doctors why surgery wasn’t an option. The answer: the heart couldn’t survive long outside the body. Lindbergh believed a machine could solve this.
After consulting with anesthetist Palulel Flagg, he was introduced to Alexis Carrel, who had long struggled to create a sterile, functioning perfusion system. Lindbergh saw Carrel’s failed prototypes and proposed improvements. Within two weeks, he returned with a glass model crafted at Princeton. Carrel, impressed, gave him space in his lab.
The Glass Pump That Kept Organs Alive
Over several years, Lindbergh and Carrel refined their device. By 1935, they had perfected a three-chambered, all-glass perfusion pump. It held an organ in place, supplied it with sterile oxygenated fluid, and allowed gravity to circulate it.
In April 1935, the device successfully kept a cat’s thyroid alive for 18 days. The tissues not only survived but replicated in culture. That summer, Carrel and Lindbergh appeared on the cover of Time. The invention was hailed as a medical breakthrough and exhibited at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
Fame, Fallout, and Obsolescence
contaminated by secretions from the organs, and the system lacked filtration. Media coverage grew sensational, with speculation about growing human embryos or Lindbergh replacing his own heart. Tired of publicity, Lindbergh withdrew to France.
Over 900 experiments were conducted, but interest faded after Carrel’s retirement, World War II, and changes in scientific priorities. The device was eventually eclipsed by newer technology, though later developments in open-heart surgery and organ preservation owed a debt to their pioneering work.
Three years after his historic transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh entered a New York lab with a new mission—keeping organs alive outside the human body.
What followed was a secret collaboration with a Nobel scientist that would land them on the cover of Time magazine.🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/c2OHg13raP
— Detective Tiger's Stories (@TigerDetective) June 10, 2025