Can humans learn to hibernate? | Howtown

The Gist

Humans possess the ancient genetic circuitry required for hibernation, meaning researchers can induce a state of torpor to protect patients from severe trauma, strokes, and radiation damage.

Quick Overview

Humans possess dormant physiological mechanisms for hibernation that can theoretically be unlocked to drastically slow metabolism, protect against radiation, and prevent muscle atrophy. Researchers at MIT, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the University of Pittsburgh are mapping the neural pathways and testing sedatives to induce safe synthetic torpor. While significant hurdles remain regarding how the human body reacts to re-warming and extreme temperature drops, animal models prove that shutting down oxygen demand saves tissues from devastating injuries.

Key Points: Edible dormice hold the hibernation length record by staying torpid for up to eleven and a half months. Arctic ground squirrels can survive core body temperatures as low as minus 2.9 degrees Celsius without their blood freezing. Hibernating mammals exhibit profound metabolic suppression, dropping their heart rates from 200 beats per minute to fewer than 10. Historical experiments in 1969 proved that injecting blood from hibernating ground squirrels into active ones induced torpor. Researchers discovered that stimulating a specific population of neurons in the preoptic area of the hypothalamus triggers hypometabolism and hypothermia. A recent study in rats showed that synthetic torpor reduced heart damage by 40 percent after oxygen deprivation and restoration. Human trials at the University of Pittsburgh using a mild sedative successfully lowered subject metabolism and suppressed shivering without dropping core temperature.

Context: Mammals share a common evolutionary ancestor that possessed the ability to regulate body temperature and metabolic activity during times of scarcity. Modern medical research is attempting to reactivate these dormant survival strategies to protect human astronauts on long-distance space missions and save critical care patients on Earth.