Studying hibernation could help humans to travel through space, fight effects of radiation and even slow down the ageing process, according to Professor Luke O’Neill.

In wintertime, certain animals go into a state of suspended animation known as hibernation, which allows them to sleep through the colder months.

Many science fiction tropes imagine worlds where humans can travel through space and time by being kept asleep until they reach far off destinations.

In many of these stories, characters do not age while they sleep, allowing them to travel light years away from Earth or hundreds of years into the future.

Futuristic laboratory with cryocapsules with sleeping peoples. Cryo sleep future concept. 3d rendering. Image: Pavel Chagochkin / Alamy.

While this may seem a work of pure fantasy, some believe that hibernation really could be the key to modern space travel - and much more.

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and even NASA and the European Space Agency have all recently increased funding into the study of hibernation.

On this week's Show Me The Science podcast, Professor Luke O’Neill explained that animals bodies work very differently when they are hibernating.

“When a ground squirrel is hibernating, it breathes twice per minute,” he said.

“Now, imagine that for a minute – it's lying there in this suspended state, and it breathes only twice per minute.

“Its metabolic rate – the basal metabolic rate it’s called – drops by 95%.

“So, you’re almost shutting down the engine and this goes on for up to eight months, can you believe it?”

Hibernating Garden Dormouse (Eliomys quercinus), Vaud Alps, Switzerland. Image: BIOSPHOTO / Alamy. 15 October 2024

Prof O’Neill said it is mostly fat that is burned during this metabolic state, while muscle mass is retained.

“You can imagine if we now translate that into deep space for a minute, astronauts often have muscle wasting - it’s a big issue if you’re an astronaut,” he said.

“They do lots of exercises when they’re in the International Space Station for instance, to keep their muscles going.

“But during hibernation, you’re keeping the lean muscle going, you’re burning all the fat – and this could be extremely useful for the physiology of the astronaut.

“It’s not just about getting us into space, because if we can understand how they’re burning fat, that might help in the obesity area.

“If we can understand how they’re maintaining lean muscle mass, that could help with ageing, where we lose muscle mass as we get older.”

Other benefits

According to Prof O’Neill, hibernation is also shown to help with recovery from traumatic brain injuries, strokes and heart attacks, and can even help animals to fight the effects of radiation.

“One that was really interesting that they discovered was when they’re in this hibernated state – say the ground squirrel for instance – they’re less prone to radiation damage,” he said.

“Now, how they discovered that I’ve no idea. They must have irradiated them in some way and noticed less mutations happening.

“Why is that important? Well, in space, there’s a risk of cosmic radiation for astronauts.

“So, again, if they can protect astronauts from radiation induced damage along the lines of these hibernating animals, that could be very useful - or even beyond that, in other situations where radiation is causing cancer.”

Prof O’Neill said hibernation may help us understand how to live longer, as animals that hibernate can live up to four times as animals of the same size that don’t.

Listen back here:

Main image: Split image showing Luke O'Neill in the Newstalk studio (L) and a futuristic image of a person hibernating (R).