Scientists restored some activity within the brains of pigs that had been slaughtered hours before, raising hopes for some medical advances and questions about the definition of death. The 32 brains came from pigs killed for food at a local slaughterhouse. (Stefano G. Daniele, Zvonimir Vrselja/Sestan Laboratory/Yale School of Medicine/Associated Press)The brains showed no large-scale electrical activity that would indicate awareness. Restoring consciousness was not a goal of the study, which was aimed instead at exploring whether particular functions might be restored long after death. When scientists removed these neurons from treated brains and stimulated them electrically, the cells responded in a way that indicated viability.

Source: CBC News April 17, 2019 17:38 UTC