Cure for death? Scientists revive cells in dead animals, raising hopes

(Image by Lothar Dieterich from Pixabay)

(AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE) -- PARIS, France -- Scientists announced Wednesday they had 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.

The discovery raised hopes for a range of future medical uses in humans, the most immediate being that it could help organs last longer, potentially saving the lives of thousands of people worldwide in need of transplants.

However it could also spur debate about the ethics of such procedures — particularly after some of the ostensibly dead pigs startled the scientists by making sudden head movements during the experiment.

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