Scientists explore human hibernation for Mars travel
10 reported3 unconfirmed
According to a single-source report from The Guardian, researchers are investigating whether synthetic torpor, a hibernation-like state, could protect astronauts from the hazards of long-term spaceflight, including radiation exposure, muscle and bone loss, and psychological strain. The European Space Agency (Esa) and Nasa are funding some of this work. Scientists are studying hibernating animals such as 13-lined ground squirrels and arctic ground squirrels to understand how they survive months without food or water. Researchers have induced synthetic torpor in animals using invasive brain surgery and, since 2023, noninvasive ultrasound. Some scientists have begun testing on healthy human volunteers, including a study that used a sedative to reduce metabolic rate by 20%. The article notes that the same techniques could have medical applications on Earth, such as treating Parkinson’s disease, cancer, and heart attacks.
What’s reported
Long-term space travel exposes humans to high radiation, microgravity damage to muscles, bones, and eyes, and psychological effects from confinement.
Hibernation can protect against radiation exposure and bone and muscle loss, and reduce food and water needs for space travel.
Humans are not natural hibernators; researchers are developing techniques to induce synthetic torpor.
Esa and Nasa are funding some of this research.
Yale physiologist Elena Gracheva studies 13-lined ground squirrels that survive up to eight months without water during hibernation.
University of Alaska biochemist Kelly Drew, funded by Nasa, studies arctic ground squirrels that hibernate from August to May.
Since 2023, scientists at Washington University in St Louis have used ultrasound to trigger synthetic torpor in animals.
University of Pittsburgh researcher Clifton Callaway gave healthy humans the sedative dexmedetomidine for five days, causing a 20% drop in metabolic rate and 30% decrease in calorie consumption.
A group of Dutch scientists isolated the molecule SUL-138 from Syrian hamsters and started a small human trial for Parkinson’s disease.
Synthetic torpor could be used for heart attacks, strokes, and brain injuries by slowing metabolism and reducing inflammation.
Open questions
Whether the preoptic neural circuit that can trigger torpor in hamsters exists in humans.
When noninvasive ultrasound techniques will be tested in healthy human volunteers.
How long synthetic torpor can be safely sustained in humans.
Key figures
Christiane Hahn, space biology research overseer at Esa
Elena Gracheva, physiologist at Yale University
Kelly Drew, biochemist at the Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska
Matteo Cerri, physiology professor at University of Bologna
Siniša Hrvatin, neuroscience researcher at MIT
Clifton Callaway, researcher at University of Pittsburgh
Rob Henning, Roelof Hut, and Kees van der Graaf, researchers at University of Groningen
Sources: The Guardian
