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Why exactly do eyes turn black when we die? (Or even change colour at all). The source of inspiration to this question is due to this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mNs_TcUyHc&t=627s (it's a cow's eye being dissected). The man explained how the cornea is crystal clear in an actual cow but since it's been preserved, the preservative has denatured the protein causing it to turn cloudy.

So why does our eye change colour when we die when no preservative is used? I know this is a pretty gruesome question to ask but curiosity has the best of me haha.

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Living tissues are not usually transparent. Obviously, the crystalline lens needs to be in order to let light go through. This is done by a fairly complicated system that requires active pumping of ions in and out. When that system stops, the lens becomes opaque resulting in that white cloudy appearance. This can happen in living animals (including humans) too, such as in cataract.

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    $\begingroup$ Please add references in your answer. $\endgroup$
    – another 'Homo sapien'
    Commented Apr 8, 2018 at 12:57

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