Tissue deterioration starts almost at once, which is why “harvesting” (surely the ugliest term in medicine) organs for transplant is such an urgent business. Blood pools in the lowest parts of the body, as gravity demands, turning the skin there purple in a process known as livor mortis. Internal cells rupture and enzymes spill out and begin a self-digesting process known as autolysis. Some organs function longer than others. The liver will continue to break down alcohol after death, even though it has absolutely no need to do so. Cells, too, die at different rates. Brain cells go quickly, in
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