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ESA To Study Human Hibernation

Posted by timothy on from the that-report-will-be-a-snooze dept.

colonist writes "The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to study human hibernation for long-duration space voyages (a la 'Alien', '2001'). Although 'practical hibernation mechanisms are at least a decade away', ESA researchers will make initial inquiries into DADLE (D-Ala,D-Leu-enkephalin), an opium-like drug that triggers hibernation in ground squirrels and human cells. Other subjects of interest include dobutamine, a drug that maintains muscle, and the Madagascan fat-tailed dwarf lemur, the only primate known to hibernate."

4 of 379 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Does cancer hibernate too? by jdmetz · · Score: 5, Informative

    That would be nice, but unfortunately hibernating is not the same as suspended animation. Hibernating animals still lose muscle mass and use energy. The metabolic rate decreases but does not stop in hibernation.

  2. Re:Good job ESA by (54)T-Dub · · Score: 4, Informative
    Yes, but it seems to me that the article inferes that hibernation could slow the aging process.
    While talking about the drug DADLE
    It also seems to send cultures of human cells to sleep: the cells divide more slowly and their gene activity drops when the molecule is applied.
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    "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
  3. Re:Alternative Idea by MindStalker · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not true. Generally in hybernation animals drop their heart rate significantly but it doesn't stop. Bears drop their heart rate from around 40-50 bpm to 8-12 bpm. Which is slighty above other animals, which often decrease to 4 bmp. But what makes bear hibernation unique is that its blood temperature only drops slightly, allowing it to wake up quickly.

    This is still hibernation.

  4. Re:Alternative Idea by Jim+Starx · · Score: 3, Informative

    The heart slows, it doesn't stop. If it stopped the animal would die; that is the definition of death, your heart stops. As for the definition of hibernation, it's a state of regulated hypothermia. That is why bears are not technically hibernating, their body temperature doesn't drop, so it is not considered a state of hypothermia. That is also the reason why they can be woken up easly. Heart rate can be increased fairly quickly, but body tempature is a much slower process.

    --
    The darkness... controls the music. The music... controls the soul.