Hibernation on demand in mice
22 April 2005
by Richard Conan-Davies
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Those scenes from the Aliens films in which the character Ripley being in hibernation for 40 years may not be so far fetched. Researchers from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, USA, have induced mice into a state of hibernation (clinical torpor) for 6 hours and then revived them successfully no worse for wear. Dr. Mark Roth, who led the work, presented their findings in the Journal Science and explained that "We have, on demand, reversibly demonstrated the widest range of metabolic flexibility that anyone has ever seen in a non-hibernating animal," They managed this on demand hibernation by placing mice in a chamber filled with normal room air with 80 parts per million of hydrogen sulfide. This chemical is normally produced in humans and animals that is believed to help regulate body temperature and metabolic activity. After a few minutes breathing the hydrogen sulfide and room-air gas, the mice went consciousness, their breathing rate dropped from the normal 120 breaths per minute to less than 10 breaths per minute. The mice's core temperature dropped from the normal 37 degrees Celsius to as low as 11 C. |
This method of hibernation may have a great uses in 'buying time' for people suffereing from fever, some types of trauma such as blood loss, or even forms of extreme radiation therapy for cancers. When the body is in hibernation less oxygen is needed and so various body process can become more resistant to the effects of reduced oxygen or even radiation. It's a bit like shutting down the electricity before attempting to fix the circuits inside a computer. Dr. Roth anticipates that clinical trials in humans could happen within about five years. |
Related Links
Original news release from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Nature & Science News
ClearlyExplained.com