Animals that hibernate are extremely resilient. They’ll spend months with out meals or water, muscle tissues refusing to atrophy, physique temperature dropping to close freezing as their metabolism and mind exercise gradual to a crawl. Once they emerge from hibernation, they get better from harmful well being modifications much like these seen in sort 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s illness, and stroke.
New genetic analysis means that hibernating animals’ superpowers may lie hidden in our personal DNA—and supplies clues on unlock them, opening the door to sometime growing therapies that might reverse neurodegeneration and diabetes.
Two research describing the outcomes are revealed in Science.
The genetics of metabolism and weight problems
A gene cluster known as the “fats mass and weight problems (FTO) locus” performs an necessary position in hibernators’ talents, the researchers discovered. Intriguingly, people have these genes too.
“What’s putting about this area is that it’s the strongest genetic threat issue for human weight problems,” says Chris Gregg, Ph.D., professor of neurobiology, anatomy, and human genetics at College of Utah Well being and senior creator on the research. However hibernators appear in a position to make use of genes within the FTO locus in new methods to their benefit.
The staff recognized hibernator-specific DNA areas which can be close to the FTO locus and that regulate the exercise of neighboring genes, tuning them up or down. The researchers speculate that adjusting the exercise of neighboring genes, together with these in or close to the FTO locus, permits hibernators to pack on the kilos earlier than settling in for the winter, then slowly use their fats reserves for power all through hibernation.
Certainly, the hibernator-specific regulatory areas outdoors of the FTO locus appear essential for tweaking metabolism. When the researchers mutated these hibernator-specific areas in mice, they noticed modifications within the mice’s weight and metabolism.
Some mutations sped up or slowed down weight acquire beneath particular dietary circumstances; others affected the power to get better physique temperature after a hibernation-like state or tuned total metabolic charge up or down.
Intriguingly, the hibernator-specific DNA areas the researchers recognized weren’t genes themselves. As an alternative, the areas had been DNA sequences that contact close by genes and switch their expression up or down, like an orchestra conductor fine-tuning the quantity of many musicians.
Because of this mutating a single hibernator-specific area has wide-ranging results extending far past the FTO locus, explains Susan Steinwand, analysis scientist in neurobiology and anatomy at U of U Well being and first creator on one of many research.
“While you knock out one among these components—this one tiny, seemingly insignificant DNA area—the exercise of a whole bunch of genes modifications,” she says. “It is fairly superb.”
Understanding hibernators’ metabolic flexibility may result in higher therapies for human metabolic issues like sort 2 diabetes, the researchers say.
“If we may regulate our genes a bit extra like hibernators, possibly we may overcome sort 2 diabetes the identical approach {that a} hibernator returns from hibernation again to a traditional metabolic state,” says Elliott Ferris, MS, bioinformatician at U of U Well being and first creator on the opposite examine.
Uncovering the regulation of hibernation
Discovering the genetic areas that will allow hibernation is an issue akin to excavating needles from a large DNA haystack. To slim down the areas concerned, the researchers used a number of impartial whole-genome applied sciences to ask which areas is likely to be related for hibernation. Then, they began searching for overlap between the outcomes from every method.
First, they regarded for sequences of DNA that almost all mammals share however that had not too long ago modified in hibernators. “If a area does not change a lot from species to species for over 100 million years however then modifications quickly and dramatically in two hibernating mammals, then we expect it factors us to one thing that’s necessary for hibernation, particularly,” Ferris says.
To know the organic processes that underlie hibernation, the researchers examined for and recognized genes that flip up or down throughout fasting in mice, which set off metabolic modifications much like hibernation. Subsequent, they discovered the genes that act as central coordinators, or “hubs,” of those fasting-induced modifications to gene exercise.
Most of the DNA areas that had not too long ago modified in hibernators additionally appeared to work together with these central coordinating hub genes. Due to this, the researchers count on that the evolution of hibernation requires particular modifications to the controls of the hub genes. These controls comprise a shortlist of DNA components which can be avenues for future investigation.
Awakening human potential
Many of the hibernator-associated modifications within the genome appeared to “break” the perform of particular items of DNA, reasonably than confer a brand new perform. This hints that hibernators might have misplaced constraints that may in any other case forestall excessive flexibility within the potential to manage metabolism.
In different phrases, it is potential that the human “thermostat” is locked to a slim vary of steady power consumption. For hibernators, that lock could also be gone.
Hibernators can reverse neurodegeneration, keep away from muscle atrophy, keep wholesome regardless of large weight fluctuations, and present improved growing older and longevity. The researchers suppose their findings present that people might have already got the wanted genetic code to have comparable hibernator-like superpowers—if we will bypass a few of our metabolic switches.
“People have already got the genetic framework,” Steinwand says. “We simply have to determine the management switches for these hibernator traits.” By studying how, researchers may assist confer comparable resilience to people.
“There’s doubtlessly a possibility—by understanding these hibernation-linked mechanisms within the genome—to search out methods to intervene and assist with age-related illnesses,” Gregg says.
“If that is hidden within the genome that we have already obtained, we may study from hibernators to enhance our personal well being.”
Extra data:
Elliott Ferris et al, Genomic convergence in hibernating mammals elucidates the genetics of metabolic regulation within the hypothalamus, Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adp4025. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp4025
Susan Steinwand et al, Conserved noncoding cis components related to hibernation modulate metabolic and behavioral variations in mice, Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adp4701. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp4701
Quotation:
Hibernator ‘superpowers’ might lie hidden in human DNA (2025, July 31)
retrieved 31 July 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-07-hibernator-superpowers-hidden-human-dna.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Aside from any truthful dealing for the aim of personal examine or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is supplied for data functions solely.
