Researchers have removed the brains from 32 slaughtered pigs and hours later restored some cellular activity.
An ethicist has called the brains ‘partly alive.’
This Yale study now raises profound questions about the line between life and death.
The brains did not regain consciousness and there were no signs indicating coordinated electrical signalling which is essential for awareness and intelligence.
In the experimental treatment, blood vessels in the pigs’ brains began functioning, flowing with a blood substitute, and some brain cells regained metabolic activity, even responding to drugs.
When the researchers tested parts of treated brain tissue, they discovered electrical activity.
The implications of this study have staggered ethicists, as they consider how this research should move forward and how it fits into the current understanding of the thin line between death and life.
Those questions may remain unanswered as the way forward will likely be focused on applications such as stroke therapy or understanding how drugs may affect the way brains are wired.
Scientists have restored cellular activity to pig brains hours after the animals’ death — an unprecedented feat. https://t.co/PmeYE9XEb8
— Science News (@ScienceNews) April 17, 2019
