Mother Nature has come up with several defense mechanisms to withstand the harsh environmental conditions. Some animals go into torpor, others go into hibernation, but the most perfect survival mechanism is suspended animation.
What is suspended animation?
To survive in extremely unfavorable conditions, such as drying or freezing, it is necessary to slow down the rate of metabolic processes in the body several times. This is the essence of suspended animation. It all depends on the water content, the reserves of which should be reduced by ¼, or even half of the original amount. Only in this case, the speed of physiological reactions can decrease without harming the animal's body. Some scientists talk about the possibility of immersing mammals in a state of suspended animation with the help of gases (carbon dioxide, argon, hydrogen sulfide)
The phenomenon of suspended animation is used in medicine in the manufacture of live vaccines, preservation of tissues for transplantation, and long-term preservation of strains of microorganisms.
Anabiosis of microorganisms
At the dawn of microbiology, the attention of many scientists was focused on the extraordinary resistance of some microorganisms to drying or freezing. Even Levenguk noted the ability of rotifers to return to life after almost two years of being in dry sand. Later, British scientists have identified similar adaptive mechanisms in the larvae of wheat roundworms. All that was needed for revitalization was moisture. Such pathogens as anthrax bacillus, typhoid bacteria, and the Asiatic type of Vibrio cholerae proved to be resistant to low temperatures. Even after freezing at temperatures close to absolute zero, pathogenic bacteria are able to retain their virulent properties.
Anabiosis of vertebrates
Along with the smallest organisms, insects also fall into suspended animation. However, it is really impressive to be in a state of half-death of higher vertebrates. Science knows examples of the discovery of frozen lizards in eternal ice, which miraculously revived after thawing. And this despite the fact that some cold-blooded lucky people have spent more than a dozen years at subzero temperatures. Even more remarkable are the examples of the detection of warm-blooded animals in a state similar to suspended animation.
In a similar way, jerboas and hedgehogs can endure an unfavorable period of the year, and they cannot be woken up by any means available to the layman. There are known cases of introduction of bats and even rabbits into a state of suspended animation. Naturally, these experiments were carried out by interested scientists. Now another question is on the agenda - can a person, without health consequences, plunge into suspended animation?
