34 | New Scientist | 12 October 2019Fantastic beasts
Some animals have superpowers
that seem to defy nature. Can we
unlock their secrets and emulate them?
Claire Ainsworth investigates
BR
ET
T^ R
YD
ER
Features
I
T HAS been holding its breath for months.
Locked under an airless seal of ice, the
extraordinary animal waits. At last, the
warmth of spring brings relief. Claws twitch,
a brain rouses and a beak pushes through the
lake’s thawing slush to take a lungful of air.
Incredibly, the western painted turtle is none
the worse for having endured the kind of
oxygen starvation that would normally kill
a human in minutes.
At more than 100 days, the turtle holds
the record among four-legged animals for
surviving without oxygen. It is by no means
the only creature to boast jaw-dropping
talents. The constellation of powers found
across the animal kingdom seems fantastical:
the ability to almost completely regenerate
innards, to dodge ageing or cancer, to slumber
immobile for months without bone or muscle
wasting, to slow biological time or even enter
a state of suspended animation that can
withstand all manner of trials, from freezing
to bombardment with gamma rays.
Almost as implausible-sounding is the
idea that humans might be able to borrow
some of these abilities. Yet the discovery that
these powers are underpinned by genes and
biological processes we too possess makes
this a distinct possibility. Some potential
applications – such as putting people into a
sort of hibernation for space travel – remain
distant goals. But others – including keeping
transplant organs fresh without cooling and