How does death help us understand the living?
Death is more than the last event of life; it is interwoven into our growth, development, protection against disease, and more. It influences the direction of entire species via the cycle of a lifespan, and it involves asking many fascinating questions. How do we differentiate between life and death, though? How do we know when a person, animal, or cell is really dead? How much grey area is there in the science? Why do we age? Can we do anything about it?
Scientifically, there's much we can learn about a living thing from its cells. In all living things, cells seem to carry "death" gene programs. Some living organisms have created systems to use these to their own advantage. Humans, for example, use the death of specific cells to hone our immune system and to give us fingernails and hair. Perhaps the most dramatic use occurs during the metamorphosis of insects and frogs. Even single-celled organisms use "quorum sensing" to eliminate some cells to ensure the overall survival of their colony in harsh environments. Thus, there is more to death than just dying.
This latest book from science writer Gary C. Howard ties together the many ways that death helps us understand life. He synthesizes the involvement and relation of cells, tissues, organisms, and populations, explaining what happens at the end of life. Between discussions about popular topics such as the ethics of extending life and cell regeneration, Howard also answers fascinating questions about life and death. The resulting book examines how the end of life is determined and what we can learn from this process.
Author(s): Gary C. Howard
Edition: 1
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 296
Cover
Half-Title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
About the Dead Man and Fungi
Contents
Preface
1. Death in Life
2. Defining Life and Death
Life: Hard to Define
Recognizing Life and Death
Bacteria with Synthetic DNA
At the Boundary of Living and Nonliving
Life, Death, and the Law
Where Next?
3. What Kills Humans
Mosquitos and Human Death
Dying Today
Death in the United States
Death in the World
What Kills Children Today
What Do We Believe Kills Us?
Death in the Distant Past
Death in the More Recent Past
Pandemics and Other Large-.Scale Events
Looking to the Future: Diseases of Lifestyle
4. Aging and Senescence
What Are Aging and Senescence?
Physiological Manifestations
Does Everything Age?
Evolution of Aging
Modern Theories of Aging
Can We Do Anything About Aging?
Aging as a Disease
5. Dying
Clinical Signs of Approaching Death
What Happens at the Moment of Death and Shortly Thereafter
Do All of Our Cells Die at the Same Time?
Near-.Death Experiences
Keeping Body and Soul Together
6. Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust
What Happens After Death?
When the Heart Stops
Understanding the Process
Laying the Dead to Rest
Other Methods
Animals and Death
How Plants Decompose
7. Genetics of Life and Death
Theories of Aging Based on Genes and DNA
Nutrient-.Sensing Mechanisms
Worn-.Out Parts
Cellular Senescence
Cell Signaling
Future Directions
8. Death of Cells
Life and Death of Cells
Cellular Aging and Death
Programmed Cell Death
Anastasis: A Near-.Death Experience for Cells
Metamorphosis
9. Programmed Cell Death in Humans
Development
Disease and Injury
10. Death in Plants
Cell Death
Programmed Cell Death
Death in Growth and Development
Plant Pathogens and Defenses
Programmed Cell Death in Plant Diseases
11. Death in Bacteria, Fungi, and Protista
Quorum Sensing by Bacteria
Fungi
Protista
12. Death on a Grand Scale
Geology and Biology
Defining Mass Extinctions
Causes of Mass Extinctions
Major Mass Extinction Events
Mass Extinctions Now and in the Future
13. Last Hominid Standing
What Happened to Our Predecessors?
Our Possible Family Members
Emergence of Homo sapiens and Interbreeding with Other Hominids
Leaving Africa
Genetic Bottlenecks and Human Evolution
Last of the Hominids
14. Bioethics
Who Wants to Live Forever?
Treating Current Patients
Ethical Questions
Research into Aging: General Arguments
Bioethical Controversies in Specific Research Areas
Aging Research as a Moral Imperative
15. Future of Death
New Technologies
New Threats
Have We Reached the Limit of Human Life Span?
Aging as a Disease
Predictions Unverified
16. Death Is More than Dying
Glossary
References
Index
