There are a lot of news stories that the hard-working staff here at Spoiler Alerts have been following closely. These topics that warrant thoughtful columns that weave together current events, scholarly literature and hard-earned policy knowledge. The aim, as always, is to generate some useful scribblings that might help make the chaos of 2019 more recognizable to readers desperate for clarity. And I promise, those columns are coming.
First, however, I have to deal with the possibility of zombie pig brains and what that means for world politics.
If you have no idea what I am talking about, I would strongly suggest that you read Matthew Shaer’s New York Times Magazine cover story about the newfound ability to revive cellular activity in postmortem pig brains. Savvy readers will recall that this story first made waves three months ago when the research was published in a peer-reviewed Nature article and covered by NPR’s Nell Greenfieldboyce at the time. Here’s the paper abstract:
The brains of humans and other mammals are highly vulnerable to interruptions in blood flow and decreases in oxygen levels. Here we describe the restoration and maintenance of microcirculation and molecular and cellular functions of the intact pig brain under ex vivo normothermic conditions up to four hours post-mortem. We have developed an extracorporeal pulsatile-perfusion system and a haemoglobin-based, acellular, non-coagulative, echogenic, and cytoprotective perfusate that promotes recovery from anoxia, reduces reperfusion injury, prevents oedema, and metabolically supports the energy requirements of the brain. With this system, we observed preservation of cytoarchitecture; attenuation of cell death; and restoration of vascular dilatory and glial inflammatory responses, spontaneous synaptic activity, and active cerebral metabolism in the absence of global electrocorticographic activity. These findings demonstrate that under appropriate conditions the isolated, intact large mammalian brain possesses an underappreciated capacity for restoration of microcirculation and molecular and cellular activity after a prolonged post-mortem interval.
In English: It turns out that it is possible, with the right equipment, to revive some aspects of brain activity in large mammals — including human beings — after death.
Now there are a HECK of a lot of implications for this kind of research, and Shaer does an excellent job of describing both the science and the bioethics behind this paper. He focuses in particular on the lead author of the article, Yale neuroscience researcher Nenad Sestan.
Now as someone who has also published peer-reviewed research on the international implications of reanimating dead tissue, I can imagine all the questions you might have. Having read Shaer’s story carefully, I think there are a few important takeaways
Be the first to like.
The Washington Post: PostEverything