Some Genes Reactivate After You Die

Credit: ox.ac.uk

If you’re like most of us, you probably imagine that everything in your body shuts down when you die, from your heart to your brain to the tiny strands of DNA that “program” your body’s cells. However, results of a new study shows that the end of life doesn’t necessarily mean the immediate end of signals from DNA. In fact, the study suggests that some of these signals get stronger in the hours following death, reaching their peak as long as two days after the body shuts down.

At least that’s what happens in mice and zebrafish.  Researchers at the University of Washington studying these species discovered that certain genes begin sending out messenger RNA in the hours after death. This RNA gives instructions to cells to make protein and other materials that their bodies rely on to function properly.

In the study, hundreds of fetal development genes that usually stop functioning after birth were observed “waking up” again in mice and fish that had died. Additionally, some genes that scientists associate with cancer were also triggered after death.

The scientists postulate that this genetic behavior isn’t a sign of life after death, but rather a sign that the body is trying to heal itself after vital functions stop. The hypothesis is that the body is using all of its remaining energy in a last-ditch effort to stay alive.

Researchers also believe that the reason they are seeing previously dormant genes come back to life is because the genes suppressing them begin to decay and die. As gene suppressors die off, there’s nothing stopping the sleeping genes from expressing themselves once more. These effects usually peak at about one or two days after death and then die off .

Research may decrease the incidence of cancer in people who receive transplanted organs.
(Credit: genethique.org)

What makes this discovery potentially vital to the medical world is the implication for organ transplants. For decades, doctors have noticed a higher rate of cancer in people who have liver transplants, and assumed it was due to the action of the immune system. Now that researchers have found an increase in genes associated with cancer after death, theories surrounding cancer rates in patients who have received an organ transplant may change.

Specifically, researchers think it’s possible that those who receive liver transplants are receiving organs from bodies that have begun the process of activating cancer genes after death. Knowing this, scientists may begin screening livers and other organs for these kinds of genes before transplanting them into patients, which could lower the risk of cancer in organ transplant recipients overall.