Is An Autopsy Necessary In Our Modern Age?

Human beings are most precious living creatures on this planet Earth. Whenever any human being departs from this world, it is basic right of the deceased one to get his farewell with honor. It is human practice since ages that deceased one is given funeral in best way. This practice began with the death one first human being on this planet and it continued in every culture, every religion and every society.

Sometimes, loved ones have to face the painful process of autopsy of the deceased one, in order to find out that the deceased one has passed away naturally or not. This painful process is conducted in order to provide justice to the deceased one if he does not die natural death.

In today’s modern world, where medical science is improving day by day and technology is doing wonders for mankind, it is well expected that autopsy will be replaced by some substitutions which will be less painful for the family members of the deceased one. It is the time to begin our journey in order to find out simpler and easier substitutions for autopsy with more accuracy. Lets save our next generations from this pain which we have faced for ages. I am sure our next generations will be saved from witnessing the pain of autopsy of their loved ones at the time of their final journey.

ACCORDING TO THE AUTHOR ALEXANDRA BERGHOFER FROM GERMANY

Is an autopsy necessary in our day and age?

 If so, always or is it also easier and perhaps more precise?

 I asked myself this question after reading an article about autopsy of patients in hospitals for quality assurance.  Do we really need that? I actually thought that we would do an autopsy when the cause of death is not clear or necessary to simplify legal formalities or because a criminal act has been started.

 In fact, many autopsies take place in our hospitals because the hospital wants to make sure they haven’t made a medical error.

 What is interesting is what is recorded in an autopsy, apart from the causes of death.  Height, weight, age, eye color, tattoos, injuries, etc., of the deceased is dismantled into all its components, examined and reassembled like a machine for maintenance.  The result is then recorded in statistics and serves as working material for future doctors and scientists.

 So you could put the whole thing in a simplified way.

 But is this knowledge still needed in this form today?

 When I read an article about the evolution of viruses in our body in connection with Covid, I was no longer so convinced that we all have to autopsy or that it might be different in the future. To understand the evolution of the virus in the human population, the genomes of circulating SARS-COV-2 fours in many parts of the world are being sequenced.  (www.mediad.at/im-fokus/corona)

 After reading this, I tried to find out more about this “genome” identification.  In fact, this technology is already used in other areas and we are supported by the European Parliament with a lot of funding. Very good results have been obtained in diagnosing heart disease. There this technique is more accurate and effective than an autopsy.Many diseases can be read or diagnosed in these genetic components.  Every day around the world attempts are made to decode our genetic material, a lot has already been successfully inserted into a worldwide database.

 (https://dzhk.de/aktuelles/news/artikel/suchaktion-im-genom-genetik-risikofaktoren-fuer-herz-kreislauf- Krankungen-auf-der-spur/)

 

An article from October 2016 shows how this technology is also used in the United States for unexplained causes of death.  Here special laboratories are commissioned to determine the cause of death with the genetic material without an autopsy.  This article also showed me that we shouldn’t be that far away from teleporting today’s autopsy into a new age in the next few decades.

 (https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/70901/Ploetzlicher-Herztod-Genomanalyse-uebertrifft-Autopsie)

 By 2022, at least one million human genomes are to be sequenced across Europe, stored across countries and made accessible for analysis.  That is the goal of the major European project “1 + Million Genomes Initiative” launched in 2019.

 However, this wealth of data is expected to grow in the following years.  Currently, 25 European countries have committed to cooperation.

 (https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/118838/Deutschland-engagiert-sich-in-europaeischer-Genominitiative)

 If you imagine this flood of data, you can also imagine what global funding is available in research.  If the living human kit is successfully deciphered, then the next step is the deceased and perhaps in the future the gene building block will be enough to recognize why this person has died.

 Priority will be given to this technology to improve and optimize our lives, to detect diseases in the early stages.  We see the results in different databases around the world.  Unfortunately not as clear and easy to understand for us as it is for medicine and science.  Every day our medicine is improved and many diseases are better understood.  Every deceased is an infinite treasure trove of data for future generations.  I hope the technology enables the extensive analysis.

 I hope I was able to bring you a little closer to the subject.  It’s very interesting, but also very extensive.  The attached Internet pages are a good way to get an optimal and more precise picture, as I am not a scientist.  I love technology and science, but I haven’t studied it.

 Thank you for your attention

 Alexandra Berghofer

Note: we are thankful to the following for our research work.

https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/118838/Deutschland-engagiert-sich-in-europaeischer-Genominitiative

https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/70901/Ploetzlicher-Herztod-Genomanalyse-uebertrifft-Autopsie

https://dzhk.de/aktuelles/news/artikel/suchaktion-im-genom-genetik-risikofaktoren-fuer-herz-kreislauf-%20Krankungen-auf-der-spur/