Imagine being capable of surviving being frozen to almost absolute zero as well as being put in a kitchen oven on the highest setting; going without water and food for decades; being blasted with radiation; and even being exposed to the vacuum of space (and maybe spread to
When environmental conditions get tough,
The proteins kept the volume of the cells constant as they experienced environmental changes, and they also massively slowed down the metabolism of the cell. The former didn’t seem to do much in terms of cellular survival but the latter was very important.
“Amazingly, when we introduce these proteins into human cells, they gel and slow down metabolism, just like in tardigrades,” lead author Dr Silvia Sanchez-Martinez, from the University of Wyoming, said in a
The process was shown to be reversible, which is another excellent piece of news. The team is looking at how these proteins could be used in technologies or therapies that slow down the aging process. They also think it could be used for storing human cells over long periods of time, as well as making treatments available to people who don’t have access to refrigeration.
“Our findings provide an avenue for pursuing technologies centered on the induction of biostasis in cells and even whole organisms to slow aging and enhance storage and stability,” the researchers added.
The team, also led by Assistant Professor Thomas Boothby, has shown in
A paper describing the results is published in the journal