Humans have Hibernation Genes

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1010  Humans have Hibernation Genes

Welcome to Medical Discovery News.  I’m Dr. Norbert Herzog. 

And I’m Dr. David Niesel.

When animals hibernate, their heart rate and metabolism slow to a crawl and they can sleep for months without food or water and wake up fresh and alert with no muscle loss or organ damage. 

Extraordinary changes occur in hibernation: body temperatures drop, fat stores preserve the body, and biological aging stalls. It’s possible humans carry genes to make something like hibernation possible.  

There are control switches called cis-regulatory elements—that turn existing genes on or off in response to hibernation signals.

It’s possible one of those switches is a human obesity-gene cluster called FTO. In hibernating animals, FTO supports fat accumulation, metabolic suppression, and regained energy after dormancy. 

So, is it possible for us to unlock these buried “hibernation genes”? If we can activate just some of these pathways, maybe we could slow metabolism in a critically ill patient to preserve organ function, protect the brain after a stroke, preserve transplanting organs, or even suspend aging for a time. 

It’s a big research mountain to climb over. We lack the natural triggers for hibernation such as seasonal cues, and genetically messing with DNA regulation is risky.   

For now, the vision is not that you’ll be sleeping through winter (although maybe one day for astronauts!). It’s that we might harness hibernation’s resilience. Our genes may include the toolkit; we just need to understand the control panel. 

We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine.   For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or subscribe to our podcast.