Woah. Doctors experience paradigm shift regarding death

[snarl817]

I've always thought that cellular death happened due to lack of oxygen. It turns out that heart cells DON'T die 4-5 minutes after oxygen deprivation sets in, but a few HOURS after. So why do they die? The cellular function that is intended to self-destruct in case of runaway cellular mitosis (also known as cancer) can't tell from the chemical cues the difference between a cancer cell, and a cell that has just been reoxygenated after several minutes.

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