Life continues in the body 2 days after death

After a person dies, some genes inside the body continue to function strongly for about two days.

Some cells survive and repair themselves after a person dies. Photo: Katarzyna Bialasiewicz.

Human death is more like the slow shutdown of a computer than the instantaneous on/off of a light switch, according to Fox News. In a study published in the journal Open Biology in late January, scientists at the University of Washington, USA, discovered that many genes in the body continue to live for about two days after the heart stops beating.

When the team studied the death of mice and zebrafish, they found that the activity of most genes dropped. But 548 zebrafish genes and 515 mouse genes had high levels of messenger RNA (mRNA) activity, lasting 48 hours after the animals died. They called this the “twilight of death.”

"Not all cells die after an organism dies. Different cell types have different lifespans, division times, and stress recovery abilities. It's likely that some cells survive and try to repair themselves, especially stem cells," said Peter Noble, lead author of the study, as quoted by Seeker.

Noble believes the same process occurs in humans. The genes that are active are linked to fetal development, immunity, inflammation, and cancer. Cells may “try to repair themselves” as if the body were still alive.

Some genes are activated because they have a mechanism to prevent themselves from being turned off, the researchers found. This phenomenon explains why organ transplant recipients are more susceptible to cancer. In addition, measuring mRNA in a person’s body after death can calculate the time of death, down to the minute.

According to VNE