Researchers redefine what it means for a cell to be alive or dead

Researchers from the University of Tokyo have proposed a new mathematical definition of cellular death. The definition is based on whether a potentially dead cell can return to a "representative state of living," and could be useful for biological and medical research. The team developed a computational method called "stoichiometric rays" to quantify the life-death boundary, focusing on enzymatic reactions and the second law of thermodynamics.