Molecular Death
Definition
The progressive, tissue-by-tissue irreversible failure of cellular metabolism that follows somatic death. Different tissues undergo molecular death at different rates, ranging from four to six minutes for cortical neurons to up to 24 hours for corneal epithelial cells.
- Also called
- Cellular or somatic death phase
- Fastest tissue
- Cortical neurons, 4 to 6 minutes
- Slowest tissue
- Corneal epithelial cells, up to 24 hours
- Follows
- Somatic (whole-organism) death
Common questions
Why does molecular death matter for estimating time since death?+
Because different tissues die at different, roughly predictable rates, techniques such as corneal potassium analysis or electrical excitability of muscle exploit the residual metabolic activity of slower-dying tissues to estimate the post-mortem interval.
Is molecular death the same event as legal or clinical death?+
No, clinical or legal death is typically declared at cardiopulmonary or brain-death criteria, which occurs before molecular death, since individual tissues can remain metabolically active for hours after the person is pronounced dead.
Related terms
- Dead-Donor Rule
- The ethical and legal principle that vital organs may only be retrieved from individuals who have already been declared legally dead. It...
- Harvard Criteria (1968)
- The four-point diagnostic criteria for a permanently non-functioning brain published by the Harvard Ad Hoc Committee in JAMA: unreceptivity and unresponsivity, no...
- Somatic Death
- The irreversible cessation of vital functions of the organism as a whole: cardiac activity, respiratory activity, and integrated neurological function. The threshold...
- TOHTA 1994
- The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act 1994 (India), amended in 2011. Section 2(d) defines brain-stem death as the permanent and...
- Uniform Determination of Death Act 1981 (UDDA)
- US model legislation, drafted by the President's Commission, that provides two legally equivalent definitions of death: irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory...