Innovative research examines the possibility of developing new life from dead body cells using bots and breakthrough biological technologies
In recent years, Michael Levin has succeeded in producing a new type of biological robots. He harvests cells from frog embryos, or even human tissue, and causes them to redevelop into tiny multicellular creatures. Xenobots, as he called them when they came from frogs, or anthropobots When they originate from humans. These new organisms demonstrate capabilities that no one expected in advance: they are able to carry loads and assist in the healing of nerve tissue. And perhaps the most amazing thing: they are able to collect individual cells from the environment, attach them to each other, and thus create Xenobots new ones
So far it is mainly a scientific-engineering achievement. But now Levin has come up with a new and even stranger idea: is it possible that such xenobots are created in nature even without human intervention? Could it be that in certain organisms - perhaps even in humans - cells break down from living or dead tissues, and move to a new form of existence?
The idea was brought up in a workshop in which Levin recently participated, together with other colleagues who study an unusual state of the body known as the "twilight of death". This is the period when the individual indeed "dies" - that is, he is devoid of brain and cardiac activity - but not all the cells of the body are ready to accept the judgment. Some of them continue to exist at any cost, and even change their operation to better survive for a few more hours, and maybe more.
We already know today that some body cells are more sensitive to the death of the body. Brain cells, for example, die quickly when they don't get the oxygen and nutrients they need. in contrast, White blood cells manage to survive Sixty hours - and some even reach 86 hours - after death. when taken Goat skin samples After death, and kept refrigerated, the cells in them managed to stay alive for more than a month - and even divide again and grow, when the samples were taken out of the refrigerator.
The researchers at the workshop agreed that some body cells are able to continue to exist during the "twilight of death", and even change the way they work. Fibroblasts, for example, keep trying to communicate with the other body cells at the same time, and at the same time activating genes which are involved in survival and development processes in the fetus. You could almost say they are trying to survive at any cost.
Is it really so strange to think that in certain situations, after the death of the body, some of these cells detach from the tissues and reconnect in unusual ways? Maybe even create new tiny multicellular organisms?
This is one of the most interesting proposals that came up at the workshop: it is clear that even if such organisms are created after death, they cannot survive outside the human body. why? Because they need a liquid medium for their sustenance. But the situation may be different among fish or amphibians. and as suggested by the researchers -
"Given these findings, it is possible that the active gene expression we see after 'death' may be due to the fact that the individual cells are quite ready to adopt a new life in a new context, if given the opportunity. For fish and amphibian cells, this may be quite natural, while Mammals will need the help of a bioengineer to guide them to a new life after death in a non-marine environment."
I admit that this is a strange proposition at first glance. Even at second glance. But ultimately, all multicellular organisms are made up of clusters of cells that have come together to perform certain tasks. In almost all multicellular organisms, you can also find individual cells that perform important actions on their own: for example, the white blood cells, which roam the body almost independently and look for invaders. And what is more important for our purposes: single sex cells, such as sperm and egg, can meet their counterparts from the other sex, connect with them and start the growth process of a new-old multicellular creature. That is, an embryo.
Is it possible, therefore, that in complex multicellular creatures, such as frogs or fish, there is a state after death in which the body breaks down... and then continues to live? That the lifelike cells that split off from the body of the organism, connect in new and strange ways and create new tiny organisms that continue to exist for at least a few days or weeks?
The xenobots, which are made up of cells extracted from frog embryos - may suggest that this is certainly possible. But the researchers in Levin's lab created the xenobots through painstaking engineering research, in which they rewired the cells together in ways that gave the xenobots their impressive abilities. Even so, evolution can reach extraordinary and impressive engineering achievements. Maybe she can also produce life after death.
Maybe.
As of now, there is no evidence yet for the idea proposed by Levin. It will probably remain an interesting idea that will guide future researchers. But in the meantime, you should put your finger on the importance of the "Twilight of Death" research. True, the field sounds very morbid, and maybe a bit philosophical, but it can be of enormous importance for the future of medicine. If we can delay or stop the process of the gradual disintegration of body tissues into individual cells, or slow down the dying of some cells, we may be able to save many lives.
Using the insights that come from the "twilight of death" research, there is a real chance that future treatments will help the body's cells keep themselves alive for minutes, hours, or even days after a fatal injury to the body. Perhaps they will enter a state of coma, where they will minimize their energy consumption, and thus be able to stay alive for a longer time. And during this period of time, of course, we will be able to provide the dying patient with medical treatments that will restore brain and cardiac activity and bring him back to life. and if
Obviously, even if we could give the cells such instructions, we would not see people coming back to life just like that. We will have to provide the dead with futuristic medical treatments, yet to be invented, to restore the tissues and restore the brain to activity. But between the time the initial death is determined and the time treatment is given, every additional cell we can save can mean a lot.
If all this sounds like science fiction to you, you should remember that until 1953, the idea of Cardiopulmonary machines that replace the activity of the heart and lungs seems like science fiction, or crazy fantasy. And so is the idea of restarting the heart's activity using an electric shock. The medical treatments of the present were the science fiction of the past. There is no reason to think that this principle will change. The future is going to look strange and different from what we know.
And who knows? We may yet discover that we too disintegrate into tiny bots after death.
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