The behavior of gene expression was analyzed by researchers and they informed that, they were able to find a unique pattern in it. Researchers were able to analyze gene expression in the fresh brain that how they can process thoughts and what makes them unique from others. Genes have a very complex nature and the brain tissue has different types of gene expression. Researchers also found that gene expression increases after death. This study was analyzed and researched by the University of Illinois Chicago. During the brain surgery, this gene expression was collected and further analyzed in fresh brain tissue. The analyses were done multiple times after removal of the brain to stimulate the post mortem interval and death. They found that gene expression in few cells was increased after death with high magnitude.
These genes are named zombie genes which are seen after death that increased expression after the post mortem interval and they were specific to one type of cell which is called inflammatory cells or glial cells. The researchers did a lot of analysis and highly observed that glial cells grow very rapidly and form a structure that is very much similar to sprout-long arm-like appendages for many hours when an individual is dead. You will be extremely surprised to know that their job is to clean things up. The glial cells get bigger after death isn’t too surprising and it is known to be inflammatory and the cleaning process is done by them after brain injuries like oxygen deprivation or stroke.
This was said by a high expert professor, Dr. Jeffrey Loeb and Hohn s. Garvin, a professor and head of neurology and rehabilitation at the UIC College of Medicine and a corresponding author on the paper. Studies are being conducted that emphasize the use of post mortem human brain tissue to find proper treatments and potential cures for long-term disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
