Scientists have momentarily restored a faint twinkle of life to dying cells in the human eye.
In order to better understand the way nerve cells succumb to a lack of oxygen, a team of US researchers measured activity in mouse and human retinal cells soon after their death.Amazingly, with a few tweaks to the tissue's environment, they were able to revive the cells' ability to communicate hours later.
It's the first time deceased human donor eyes have ever responded to light in this way, and it has some experts questioning the irreversible nature of death in the central nervous system. The feats were achieved by stalling the rapid degradation of mammalian neurons, using artificial blood, heaters, and pumps to restore circulation of oxygen and nutrients.
Initially, the experiments showed retinal cells continued to react to light for up to five hours after death. Yet the crucial inter-cellular b-wave signals quickly dropped off, apparently due to the loss of oxygen. Nonetheless, some definitions of 'brain death' require a loss of synchronous activity among neurons. If that definition is accepted, then the human retinas in the current study were not yet fully dead.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Most of the Great Barrier Reef Coral Studied This Year Was BleachedAustralian government scientists say 91 percent of the Great Barrier Reef coral surveyed this year was bleached, though scientists hope that most of the coral affected this year will recover.
Read more »
Chomsky: To Tackle Climate, Our Morality Must Catch Up With Our IntelligenceIt's within our power to end the hideous experiment we are so enthusiastically committed to, if we have the moral will.
Read more »
City-size lake discovered miles below the world's largest ice sheetDrilling into the lake will enable scientists to track the history of climate change.
Read more »
Opinion | Groups fighting vaccines hypocritically oppose abortionsJudges are ignoring medical associations and scientists in favor of organizations pushing disinformation.
Read more »
NASA's InSight lander records 'monster earthquake' on MarsNASA released images on Monday showing what scientists are calling a 'monster earthquake' on Mars.
Read more »