In sci-fi films such as ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Re-Animator’, human bodies are brought back to life, existing in a freakish condition between life and death.
While this sounds like the stuff of fantasy, a new study says a ‘third state’ of existence really does exist in modern biology.
According to the researchers, the third state is where the cells of a dead organism continue to function after the organism’s death.
Amazingly, after the organism’s demise, its cells are gaining new capabilities that they did not possess in life, the biologists say.
If more experiments with the cells from dead animals – including humans – show they can enter the third state, they could ‘redefine legal death’.
After an organism has died, cells are gaining new capabilities that they did not possess in life, the researchers say. Different cell types have different capacities for survival (file photo)
In sci-fi films such as ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Re-Animator’, human bodies are brought back to life, existing in a freakish condition between life and death
The new study in Physiology has been led by Professor Peter Noble at the University of Washington in Seattle and Alex Pozhitkov at City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte California.
‘Life and death are traditionally viewed as opposites,’ they say in a new piece for The Conversation.
‘But the emergence of new multicellular life-forms from the cells of a dead organism introduces a ‘third state’ that lies beyond the traditional boundaries of life and death.
‘Certain cells – when provided with nutrients, oxygen, bioelectricity or biochemical cues – have the capacity to transform into multicellular organisms with new functions after death.’
The team conducted a review of recent studies that investigated the remarkable capability of cells to exist in new forms after an organism has died.
In 2021, researchers in the US found that skin cells from dead frogs were able to adapt to a petri dish in a lab, spontaneously reorganizing into multicellular organisms called ‘xenobots’.
These organisms showed behaviours beyond their original biological roles – by using their cilia – small, hair-like structures – to move through surroundings.
In the classic 1980s film ‘Re-Animator’, a medical student discovers how to bring human tissue back to life
Pictured, computer-designed organisms that gather single cells inside a Pac-Man-shaped ‘mouth’ and release ‘babies’ (green)
Other scientists also found that human lung cells can self-assemble into miniature multicellular organisms that can move around – dubbed ‘anthrobots’.
These anthrobots not only can navigate their surroundings but also repair both themselves and injured nerve cells nearby.
The team say these are examples of new cell functions that don’t exist in life, ‘showing change in ways that are not predetermined’.
How certain cells function in the third state after an organism dies remains unclear, but one potential Frankenstein-style explanation is a hidden system of ‘electrical circuits’ that reanimate the cells.
The team say: ‘One hypothesis is specialized channels and pumps embedded in the outer membranes of cells serve as intricate electrical circuits.
Diagram A shows an anthrobot building a bridge across a scratched nerve cell over the course of three days. Diagram B highlights the ‘stitch’ in green at the end of day three
This anthrobot was made from human lung cells, coaxed into a new shape that can crawl around and repair damaged tissue
Xenobots can gather hundreds of single cells, compress them and assemble them into ‘babies’ released from their Pac-Man-shaped mouths
‘These channels and pumps generate electrical signals that allow cells to communicate with each other and execute specific functions such as growth and movement, shaping the structure of the organism they form.’
Several factors may influence whether the cells have this capability, including environmental conditions (such as temperature) and energy sources (whether they have access to fuel and can metabolize).
‘Metabolic activity plays an important role in whether cells can continue to survive and function,’ the research team add.
Factors such as age, health, sex and type of species also ‘shape the postmortem landscape’ – in other words, whether they can exist in the third state.
Ultimately, the research hints at ‘unexplored frontiers’ that could bring animal cells into the third state – although whether it one day resembles the likes of ‘Re-Animator’ remains to be seen.
In the classic 1980s film, a medical student discovers how to bring human tissue back to life – with violent consequences.
‘This research has the potential to transform regenerative medicine, redefine legal death, and provide insights into life’s physiological limits, paralleling inquiries in embryogenesis,’ the study authors conclude.
