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Hibernation on Demand
Mr. Christmas Lights writes "Dr. Mark Roth at the
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
has successfully
induced
a state of reversible metabolic hibernation in mice
which (no surprise) is
getting quite a bit of publicity.
Attempts in the past have used cooling techniques, but Dr. Roth
uses hydrogen sulfide (80 parts/million) to basically put the warm-blooded mice
into an advanced hibernated state, with a drop from the normal
120 breaths/minute to less than 10. Core body temperature also drops
as low as 11C (50F) to match the ambient room temperature. The mice recover in about two hours once normal air/temperatures are applied,
with no apparent ill effects - apparently there is a mice IQ/motor-skills test.
In addition to the obligatory reference to
Woody Allen's
Sleeper movie, this has applicability for emergency rooms as it
would be beneficial to in ER medicine as a way of "buying time"
while diagnosis is performed."
I dare every slashdotter who reads this to copy the story VERBATIM and resubmit it as a new story! That'll teach those editors (well, not really, who are we kidding, they are too stupid to know!)...
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
If you have mod points and see the parent post at anything less than +5, mod it back up. We need these kinds of reminders.