Is death reversible?Episode 32← All Episodes

Does life end inevitably or instead only because we don’t understand biology well enough yet? Today’s episode is about understanding what happens when your molecular cycles grind to a halt… and whether there’s anything we can do to hit control-Z. Join Eagleman and his guest Dr. Zvonimir Vrselja to dive into the weird possibility of understanding cells well enough to reverse death.

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Vrselja Z, Daniele SG, Silbereis J, Talpo F, Morozov YM, Sousa AM, Tanaka BS, Skarica M, Pletikos M, Kaur N, Zhuang ZW. Restoration of brain circulation and cellular functions hours post-mortem. Nature. 2019 Apr 18;568(7752):336-43.

Andrijevic D, Vrselja Z, Lysyy T, Zhang S, Skarica M, Spajic A, Dellal D, Thorn SL, Duckrow RB, Ma S, Duy PQ. Cellular recovery after prolonged warm ischaemia of the whole body. Nature. 2022 Aug 11;608(7922):405-12.

Cornwall, W (2023). Frozen in Time. Science, Vol 380, Issue 6652.

Gilbert M, Busund R, Skagseth A, Nilsen PÅ, Solbø JP. Resuscitation from accidental hypothermia of 13.7°C with circulatory arrest. The Lancet. 2000 Jan 29;355(9201):375-6.

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