“As part of the FPI projects, Russian scientists have successfully developed new experimental approaches to overcoming transplant immunity. For the first time in the world, a group of researchers from the Institute of Immunology of the FMBA of Russia has developed an experimental technique for purposefully replacing tissues of the immune system of laboratory animals with genetically alien ones,” Zabelin said. It works on mice According to him, the technique involves the transplantation of a genetically alien thymus gland (thymus), which ensures the formation of a new fully functioning immune system. Currently, most of the research on thymus regeneration is performed on laboratory mice. Finding out whether these methods work on humans is a real and future big task, the agency’s interlocutor noted. “Today, the complete preservation of the organ’s functionality and structure has been achieved for a time comparable to the life span of animals,” Zabelin added. Alexander Varlachev, head of the FPI project group, added that it is especially important that after transplantation no additional use of immunosuppression tools and methods is required, as is done in all cases of transplantation of foreign tissues in order to overcome their rejection by the recipient’s immune system. “Currently, research on the development of new methods of immunocorrection is continuing, for which a group of scientists is working at the Institute of Immunology of the FMBA of Russia with the support of the FPI and a new laboratory is being formed. It is fundamentally important that the Institute of Immunology not only conducts fundamental research, but is also one of the leading Russian medical institutions in the field of immunology and allergology,” Varlachev said. Thymus and longevity The immune system protects a person from infections and the degeneration of their own cells into cancerous ones, but its central organ, the thymus gland (thymus), decreases in size from the age of 16, turning into islands of adipose tissue by the end of a person’s life. By the age of 75, the mass of the thymus does not exceed 6 grams, whereas the normal weight of this organ at the age of 16 is about 37 grams. At the same time, age-related changes in the thymus are accompanied not only by morphological, but also by functional degeneration. “Despite the achievements of modern medicine, effective methods of restoring the thymus gland currently do not exist, although their development could help solve many problems associated with a decrease in immunity,” the FPI clarified. Many scientists around the world are searching for ways to restore the immune system, including the thymus gland. In Europe, the University of Edinburgh coordinates such research within the framework of the Thymistem project. As the most promising area of this project, the possibility of transplanting artificially grown thymus to the elderly, as well as to patients after organ transplantation, is being considered. Today, thymus gland transplantation, like other genetically alien organs, is not effective in almost all cases.: own T-cells of recipients who have (or had previously) their own thymus attacks the graft and causes its rejection. The problem of alien tissue rejection is one of the barriers that have not been overcome to date for the development of a number of biomedical fields. “The problem of immunodeficiency on a global scale is caused by the rapid increase in the population in need of correction of compromised immunity.: These are patients with congenital immunodeficiency, autoimmune pathologies, patients with oncohematological diseases requiring bone marrow transplantation, and simply elderly people whose thymus gland function decreases due to natural causes,” the FPI concluded. The Advanced Research Foundation was established in 2012 to promote scientific research and development in the interests of national defense and security. The activity is carried out in three main areas – chemical, biological, medical, physico-technical, and informational. At the end of 2015, the National Center for the Development of Technologies and Basic Elements of Robotics was established in the structure of the foundation. Currently, the foundation is working on more than 50 projects, and over 40 laboratories have been created for them at leading universities, research institutes, and defense enterprises.