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According to recent research by Queen’s University Belfast in the United Kingdom, zebrafish’s hibernating habits may prove helpful for humans in Mars missions.
Zebrafish
- Scientific Name: Danio rerio
- It is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the minnow family (Cyprinidae) of the order Cypriniformes.
- Habitat/Range: Native to rivers and streams of South Asia.
- Features
- It is a popular aquarium fish.
- It is about 4 cm long and has dark-blue and silvery longitudinal stripes.
- IUCN Red List Status: Least concerned.
- Significance
- It is a good research stand-in for humans because of similarities in brain, heart, liver, kidneys.
- Genome sequencing has shown that 84 per cent of the genes that cause disease in humans are also found in zebrafish.
- Zebrafish embryos are transparent and develop outside the mother’s body, so scientists can manipulate genes to model human diseases and directly observe disease changes in live animals.
- Also, these embryos absorb drugs added to the water they are in so they have been used successfully to discover possible new drugs.
- So far, zebrafish studies have yielded insights into cancer, diabetes, muscle diseases, and more.
- Also, their induced hibernation habits may prove helpful in space journeys and reduce their bad effects on human bodies.
(Image Courtesy: BBC)
About the Study
- Researchers exposed zebrafish to radiations similar to that of a six-month journey to Mars.
- The radiation caused signatures of oxidative stress, stress hormone signaling and halting of the cell cycle within the zebrafish.
- Then they induced torpor (a form of hibernation with a state of reduced metabolic activity) in a second group of zebrafish exposed to the same kind of radiation.
- They analysed their gene expression patterns to assess the protective effects during this induced state of physical or mental inactivity.
Findings of the Research
- The results showed that torpor lowered the metabolic rate within the zebrafish and created a radioprotective effect, protecting against the harmful effects of radiation.
- Replicating hibernation may therefore protect astronauts against the harsh conditions of space flights.
- Long-term space travel is incredibly detrimental to human health and includes challenges such as radiation exposure, bone and muscle wastage, advanced ageing and vascular problems.
- Significance: The research gives insights into how a reduction in metabolic rate could offer protection from radiation exposure and could help humans achieve hibernation, counter measuring the damage they currently face during spaceflight.
- Effects of Hibernation
- Humans hibernating on space flights would lead to reduced brain function which would cut down on psychological stress.
- The change to their metabolism would stop them requiring food, oxygen or water.
- There was also a possibility it would protect their muscles from wasting due to the effects caused by radiation and microgravity.
Hibernation
- It is a physiological condition or a state of greatly reduced metabolic activity and lowered body temperature adopted by certain mammals as an adaptation to adverse winter conditions.
- It is a means of energy conservation and protects against harsh conditions, such as food scarcity and low environmental temperatures.
- While hibernation is most often seen as a seasonal behavior, it is not exclusive to cold-weather as there are tropical hibernators as well, who go in Aestivation.
- Factors Responsible
- Temperature
- Food Shortages
- Protection (Hibernating animals do not make any noise or movements, hence are hard to detect for predators).
- Variety of amphibians, reptiles, insects and mammals hibernate. There are cases noticed even in birds and fish as well.
- The hibernator relies on a combination of reserve body fat, stored food supplies (in rodents only) and a protected den.
- At intervals of several weeks the animal elevates its body temperature, awakens, moves about, feeds, and then returns to its state of torpor.
- Such animals which do not undergo much lowering of body temperature and are rather easily awakened, are not considered true hibernators.
- True Hibernators
- They spend most of the winter in a state close to death.
- Body temperature is close to 0° C (32° F)., the respiration is only a few breaths per minute and the heartbeat is so slow and gradual as to be barely perceptible.
- Among mammals, true hibernators are found only in the orders Chiroptera (bats), Insectivora (hedgehogs and allies) and Rodentia (ground squirrels, marmots, etc).
- Exposed to moderate warmth, the animal slowly awakens, requiring an hour or more to reach an alert state.
- Threats: Animals may die during hibernation from lack of fat, severe weather or premature awakening.
Related Practises
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Source: DTE
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