Discovery of a "third state" between life and death

November 20, 2024

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By observing cells from dead mice and zebrafish, biologists have discovered an intermediate cellular state, distinct from that of life or death as they are defined today. After the animals died, the cells removed joined together and their gene expression was surprisingly abundant. Interview with Peter Noble, author of the study.

Illustration of a third state between life and death (generated by AI)

Image by Fifi from Pixabay/Genere par IA

Alive or dead. These two options are no longer sufficient to characterize the state of a cell according to a team of American researchers: " Even if an organism dies, some of its cells retain the ability to reorganize and can form new life structures," summarizes Peter Noble, researcher at the University of Alabama (United States).

In a new study, co-led by Alexander Pozhitkov, biologists observed cells from dead mice and zebrafish. Placed in Petri dishes, these cells spontaneously assembled together, forming small spheres called biobots. This concept is not new: biobots are taking their first steps (literally) in 2020. Researchers at Tufts University (United States) took stem cells from frog embryos that assembled into spheres. Thanks to the cilia on their surface, the The xenobots (named after the frog from which the cells came: Xenopus Laevis), walked around their Petri dish. Better yet, they were even able to self-reproduce.

Xenobot Graft Cell death Cellular aging