Scientists have managed to bring the eyes of dead people back to life in a possible discovery that could mean that death itself may one day be reversible.

Photosensitive cells in the retina were able to respond to light up to five hours after death.

Laboratory tests showed that they sent signals "similar to those recorded by living subjects".

These neurons in the retina are part of the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord.

The discovery, made by American researchers and published in the journal Nature, raises the possibility that other CNS cells may also be restored in the future, writes

DailyMail

.

The experts said their study "raises the question of whether brain death, as currently defined, is truly irreversible."

To achieve their results, the scientists designed a special transport unit that could restore oxygen and other nutrients to the eye 20 minutes after being removed by a dead donor.

The main author of the study, Dr.

Fatima Abbas, of the University of Utah, said: “We were able to awaken photoreceptor cells in the human macula, which is the part of the retina responsible for our central vision and our ability to see fine detail and color.

"In the eyes taken up to five hours after the death of an organ donor, these cells responded to bright light, colored lights and even very faint flashes of light."

The new research goes one step further than a 2019 Yale University study, which resumed the brains of 32 pigs slaughtered four hours ago.

Yale's study failed to revive activity in neurons.

"We were able to make retinal cells talk to each other, as they do in the living eye," said Dr.

Frans Vinberg, also from Utah.

"This has never been achieved in the macula of the skin, and never to the extent that we have demonstrated now," he added.

The researchers also hope that the discovery could accelerate new therapies for vision loss and improve their understanding of brain diseases.

Dr.

Vinberg added that the researchers hoped that the process the team developed to support the eyes after the donation could be used in further research and that more people would be inspired to donate the eyes to science. 

/ Telegraphy /