In 1986, UW scientists Folkert Belzer and James Southard developed the gold standard for organ preservation techniques. Their synthetic solution allowed organs to be safely stored outside the body for longer periods of time. The advancement, known as the UW Solution, was a major breakthrough in preserving organs for transplant surgeries. Prior to their discovery, organs such as livers could only be stored for six hours and kidneys could be preserved for up to three days. The beauty of the Wisconsin Solution was that fewer organs were wasted and more lives were saved.