{"id":307568,"date":"2025-07-31T21:31:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T21:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/307568\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T21:31:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T21:31:13","slug":"hibernator-superpowers-may-lie-hidden-in-human-dna-theu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/307568\/","title":{"rendered":"Hibernator \u2018superpowers\u2019 may lie hidden in human DNA \u2013 @theU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reposted from U of U Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Animals that hibernate are incredibly resilient. They can spend months without food or water, muscles refusing to atrophy, body temperature dropping to near freezing as their metabolism and brain activity slow to a crawl. When they emerge from hibernation, they recover from dangerous health changes similar to those seen in type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer\u2019s disease and stroke.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Graphic credit: Chrissy Richards.<\/p>\n

New genetic research suggests that hibernating animals\u2019 superpowers could lie hidden in our own DNA\u2014and provides clues on how to unlock them, opening the door to someday developing treatments that could reverse neurodegeneration and diabetes.<\/p>\n

Two studies describing the results were published on Thursday, July 31, in the journal Science.<\/p>\n

The genetics of metabolism and obesity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Besides bears, animals that hibernate<\/a> include bats, snakes, groundhogs, lemurs, turtles and bees.<\/p>\n

A gene cluster called the \u201cfat mass and obesity (FTO) locus\u201d plays an important role in hibernators\u2019 abilities, the researchers found. Intriguingly, humans have these genes too. \u201cWhat\u2019s striking about this region is that it is the strongest genetic risk factor for human obesity,\u201d said Chris Gregg<\/a>, professor in neurobiology, anatomy and human genetics at University of Utah Health and senior author on the studies. But hibernators seem able to use genes in the FTO locus in new ways to their advantage.<\/p>\n

The team identified hibernator-specific DNA regions that are near the FTO locus and that regulate the activity of neighboring genes, tuning them up or down. The researchers speculate that adjusting the activity of neighboring genes, including those in or near the FTO locus, allows hibernators to pack on the pounds before settling in for the winter, then slowly use their fat reserves for energy throughout hibernation.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the hibernator-specific regulatory regions outside of the FTO locus seem crucial for tweaking metabolism. When the researchers mutated those hibernator-specific regions in mice, they saw changes in the mice\u2019s weight and metabolism. Some mutations sped up or slowed down weight gain under specific dietary conditions; others affected the ability to recover body temperature after a hibernation-like state or tuned overall metabolic rate up or down.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Susan Steinwand, left, and Chris Gregg.<\/p>\n

Intriguingly, the hibernator-specific DNA regions the researchers identified weren\u2019t genes themselves. Instead, the regions were DNA sequences that contact nearby genes and turn their expression up or down, like an orchestra conductor fine-tuning the volume of many musicians. This means that mutating a single hibernator-specific region has wide-ranging effects extending far beyond the FTO locus, explained Susan Steinwand, research scientist in neurobiology and anatomy in Gregg\u2019s lab<\/a> and first author on one of the studies. \u201cWhen you knock out one of these elements\u2014this one tiny, seemingly insignificant DNA region\u2014the activity of hundreds of genes changes,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Understanding hibernators\u2019 metabolic flexibility could lead to better treatments for human metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we could regulate our genes a bit more like hibernators, maybe we could overcome type 2 diabetes the same way that a hibernator returns from hibernation back to a normal metabolic state,\u201d said Elliott Ferris, bioinformatician at U of U Health and first author on the other study.<\/p>\n

Uncovering the regulation of hibernation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finding the genetic regions that may enable hibernation is a problem akin to excavating needles from a massive DNA haystack. To narrow down the regions involved, the researchers used multiple independent whole-genome technologies to ask which regions might be relevant for hibernation. Then, they started looking for overlap between the results from each technique.<\/p>\n

First, they looked for sequences of DNA that most mammals share but that had recently changed in hibernators. \u201cIf a region doesn\u2019t change much from species to species for over 100 million years but then changes rapidly and dramatically in two hibernating mammals, then we think it points us to something that is important for hibernation, specifically,\u201d Ferris said.<\/p>\n

To understand the biological processes that underlie hibernation, the researchers tested for and identified genes that turn up or down during fasting in mice, which triggers metabolic changes similar to hibernation. Next, they found the genes that act as central coordinators, or \u201chubs,\u201d of these fasting-induced changes to gene activity.<\/p>\n

Many of the DNA regions that had recently changed in hibernators also appeared to interact with these central coordinating hub genes. Because of this, the researchers expect that the evolution of hibernation requires specific changes to the controls of the hub genes. These controls comprise a shortlist of DNA elements that are avenues for future investigation.<\/p>\n

Awakening human potential<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of the hibernator-associated changes in the genome appeared to \u201cbreak\u201d the function of specific pieces of DNA, rather than confer a new function. This hints that hibernators may have lost constraints that would otherwise prevent extreme flexibility in the ability to control metabolism. In other words, it\u2019s possible that the human \u201cthermostat\u201d is locked to a narrow range of continuous energy consumption. For hibernators, that lock may be gone.<\/p>\n

Hibernators can reverse neurodegeneration, avoid muscle atrophy, stay healthy despite massive weight fluctuations and show improved aging and longevity. The researchers think their findings show that humans may already have the needed genetic code to have similar hibernator-like superpowers\u2014if we can bypass some of our metabolic switches.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumans already have the genetic framework,\u201d Steinwand said. \u201cWe just need to identify the control switches for these hibernator traits.\u201d By learning how, researchers could help confer similar resilience to humans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s potentially an opportunity\u2014by understanding these hibernation-linked mechanisms in the genome\u2014to find strategies to intervene and help with age-related diseases,\u201d Gregg said. \u201cIf that\u2019s hidden in the genome that we\u2019ve already got, we could learn from hibernators to improve our own health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banner image shows a black bear mother with cubs at Lassen National Volcanic Park. Credit: Jake Edwards, National Park Service.<\/p>\n

The results are published in Science as \u201cConserved Noncoding Cis-Elements Associated with Hibernation Modulate Metabolic and Behavioral Adaptations in Mice<\/a>\u201d and \u201cGenomic Convergence in Hibernating Mammals Elucidates the Genetics of Metabolic Regulation in the Hypothalamus<\/a>.\u201d The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, including the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Library of Medicine. Content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n

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