THE JOLLY BUCCANEERS

The discovery that many genes are still working up to 48 hours after death has implications for organ transplants, forensics and our very definition of death

When a doctor declares a person dead, some of their body may still be alive and kicking – at least for a day or two. New evidence in animals suggests that many genes go on working for up to 48 hours after the lights have gone out.

This hustle and bustle has been seen in mice and zebrafish, but there are hints that genes are also active for some time in deceased humans. This discovery could have implications for the safety of organ transplants as well as help pathologists pinpoint a time of death more precisely, perhaps to within minutes of the event.

TO BE CONTINUED ON

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2094644-hundreds-of-genes-seen-sparking-to-life-two-days-after-death/

This entry was posted on June 27, 2016 at 8:06 pm and is filed under 2016 with tags after death, Death, genes, new discovery on after death. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.