In a medical miracle, a team of scientists in the US restored blood circulation and other cellular functions in pigs hours after their deaths.Besides raising ethical questions on the definition of death, the research reported in the journal .
Scientists announced Wednesday they have restored blood flow and cell function throughout the bodies of pigs that were dead for an hour, in a breakthrough experts say could mean we need to update the definition of death itself.
Scientists revived vital organs from deceased pigs with a technology that shows promise for organ transplantation and further blurs the line between life and death.
The research, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, challenges the assumption that tissue death is swift and irreversible, as the scientists were able to restore the function of several organs an hour after the pigs’ hearts had stopped.
“The latest findings raise a slew of questions not least, whether medical and biological determinations of death will need revising,” Brendan Parent, director of transplant ethics and policy research at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine,