Researchers are taking advantage of a timed window during which they can restore cellular function to organs, saving at least parts of the human body. More than two centuries after Shelley committed those words to paper, scientists are now developing new “instruments of life” that are challenging our very definitions of death. One of the most advanced of these instruments is a technique that supplies synthetic blood to the body, restoring cellular function to organs such as the heart, liver, and kidneys. Amazingly, the platform temporarily restored cellular function to the animal’s brain, heart, and kidneys. Cells are the building blocks of life, but not “life” in and of themselves.