You're fine if you stop breathing, as long as you don't start again.

[jackofallgeeks]

This article is amazing. We all know that you can live for weeks without food, days without water, hours without blood, and minutes without air. It's commonly accepted that if you're without air for five minutes you're dead because the cells of your heart and brain have been damaged.

Apparently, new evidence refutes this. It's not the *lack* of oxygen that kills cells, it's the reintroduction of oxygen. And, get this, it's not even just a dumb chemical reaction -- your body apparently kills the cells intentionally.

Apparently it comes down to the mitocondria (I control your arms!) inside the cells. Mitocondria are fascinating little things that I really want to learn more about. Not only are they responsible for regulating cell metabolism, they're also in charge of (vocab word!) apoptosis, the mechanism by which the body destroys abnormal cells (and thus protect itself from cancer). It appears that the body can't tell the difference between a cancerous cell and one that's being reintroduced to oxygen after being deprived of it, so the kill switch is hit and the cell is destroyed.

(Another interesting fact is that one theory of cellular something-or-other holds that mitocondria -- which contain their own DNA, distinct from that of the cell they inhabit -- are actually stand-alone organisms in their own right. It's a bit odd thinking that processes so basic to our existence as cell metabolism and destruction would be relegated to another organism. Makes me think of jellyfish...)

Comments

[thismortalquill.livejournal.com]

Speaking of mitochondria, did you ever play Parasite Eve? The writers had some fun ideas.

[thismortalquill.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, and technically speaking, our bodies are only comprised of about 10% human cells. Wipe out the intestinal flora and fauna as well as all the other bacteria etc and we're a mere shadow of our former selves. Who said it was a lonely world?