The brain and nerve cells are among the most oxygen-hungry in the body — once you stop breathing, they begin to die within mere minutes. Next in line are the heart, liver, kidneys, and pancreas, which can survive for about an hour. Yet remarkably, skin, tendons, heart valves, and corneas can remain viable for an entire day, while white blood cells can endure for up to three days.

But here’s where it gets even more fascinating: once someone dies, their body doesn’t simply go still. It enters what scientists call the “twilight of death” — a period when certain biological processes, including gene transcription (the copying of DNA segments into RNA), continue for hours or even days after clinical death.

Researchers have long observed that recipients of transplanted organs often face an increased risk of developing cancer, and some now suspect there may be a connection between this twilight gene activity and the elevated cancer risk. In essence, after death, surviving cells may begin altering their DNA in a state of blind panic, triggering gene activity that could have unintended — and dangerous — consequences when those tissues are transplanted into another living body.

This window into the postmortem biological landscape opens up profound questions, not just about the boundaries of life and death, but also about the hidden risks and complexities tied to modern transplant medicine. #life #death #health