Scientists at Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) have discovered a chemical ‘switch’ in monkey brains to lower human body temperature that could be used to put humans to sleep during long space travel. Research published in the journal Innovation.
Space flights are expected to take hundreds and thousands of years. One possible solution would be “generation ships”, where several generations of space travelers live and die before the ship reaches its final destination. Another option is artificial sleep mode, but it is not yet known whether this is possible for a person.
Studies in three young male cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). Scientists have used drugs to activate DREADD receptors in the brain. A synthetic drug called clozapine N-oxide (CNO) caused a steady and predictable drop in temperature in macaques.
The work could allow the development of technology to put humans into hibernation or hibernation, a technology that many mammals have but primates do not. At the same time, body temperature drops and metabolism is reduced to a minimum. The scientists’ work showed for the first time the possibility of a permanent decrease in body temperature in primates through the activation of neurons.