Health security

DARPA THINKS TARDIGRADES COULD HELP SCIENTISTS 'FREEZE' INJURED SOLDIERS IN TIME

Tardigrades are the only animal known to have survived in the vacuum of open space. They can survive temperatures of up to 304 degrees Fahrenheit, and can withstand being frozen for up to 30 years, as in one documented case.

They can also survive without water for up to a decade by shriveling up and placing themselves in something resembling a state of suspended animation—and it is that trait that has scientists at Harvard Medical School, the University of Washington and MIT interested.

Their research is being funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), having been awarded up to $14.8 million as part of the Biostasis program in December 2018. The aim of the program is to find a way to extend the “golden hour,” the period of time between a traumatic injury and medical intervention. This could apply to a soldier suffering a traumatic injury on the battlefield, someone suffering a stroke or heart attack, or cases of sepsis.

Biostasis interventions would not be a long-term fix; biological processes would return to normal after a short period. But it would buy doctors and medical personnel more time to get the patient the help they need.

Tardigrades offer a promising avenue for this area of research because of their ability to shut down their metabolic processes and enter a state of cryptobiosis, wherein the creature is sort of frozen in time, having slowed down its metabolic processes to almost undetectable levels.