A US company's plan to bring dead people back to life has been revived, after an earlier trial was shut down by regulators.
Bioquark, based in Philadelphia, aims to revive those declared brain-dead by injected them with stem cells.
In most countries, including New Zealand and the United States, brain death is legally considered death - while the organs, such as lungs and heart, can continue to function with support from machines, the patient is dead.
Once brain cells die, they can't heal. Bioquark is hoping to change that.
As well as injecting stem cells, the company wants to inject a protein blend as well as directing laser therapy and electrical nerve stimulation at the brain.
Chief executive Ira Pastor told Stat News the goal is to grow new neurons, drive them to connect to each other, and thus bring the brain back to life.
An earlier trial was approved in November, working on 20 brain-dead volunteers in an Indian hospital.
India was chosen as it was significantly cheaper than running it in the US, he told media last year.
But it was shut down by local regulators, so Mr Pastor is hoping to revive his revival project in another country.
He told State News they're in the "final stages" of finding a new location, in Latin America, which will be announced in the coming months.
Even if the trial is successful and dead people truly can come back to life, Mr Pastor admits he hasn't thought about 'what comes next'.
"While full recovery in such patients is indeed a long term vision of ours, and a possibility that we foresee with continued work along this path, it is not the core focus or primary endpoint of this first protocol," he said.
Newshub.
