One small step for hibernators: Why studying torpor in space may benefit human health among the stars and here at home

In January 2023, a project hatched and led by Ryan Sprenger (Fauna Bio), Mark Boettger (Fauna Bio), and Tobias Niederwieser (Bioserve Space Technologies) was selected for 2024 funding by the NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) program. NIAC fosters visionary concepts in their earliest stages to explore radical space technologies that could lead to groundbreaking missions in the future.

Nicknamed “STASH” for Studying Torpor in Animals for Space-health in Humans (link), the project seeks to develop and implement the hardware required to study hibernation aboard the International Space Station (ISS). And, although the idea of hibernation in space travel is certainly not novel in science (link)(link) or cinema, the ability to understand the feasibility, benefit, and practicality of it requires the critical step of studying hibernation in space. A step that “STASH” aims to make possible.

But, why hibernation in space and why do we care about this on Earth? Hibernation embodies extraordinary biology, which is at the core of what makes Fauna Bio unique. There is an overlap of potential benefits to human health both in space and on Earth. In space, hibernation has the potential to mitigate each of the health hazards that make up NASA’s RIDGE acronym for deep space travel (Space Radiation, Isolation and confinement, Distance from Earth, Gravity fields, and Hostile/Closed Environments). The loss of gravity causes dramatic atrophy in both muscle and bone (link) as well as ocular pathology (link). Further, without the protection of Earth’s atmosphere, radiation exposures are far higher. The last of the RIDGE acronym centers on the mental toll space travel presents, but the induction of a hibernation-like state allows for mitigation of these obstacles.

There is precedence for hibernating species having biologically based protections against all these pathologies, namely protection against radiation (link) and muscle atrophy (link). But, whether these protections remain effective in space and the fundamental mechanisms by which hibernating species are protected on Earth remain mysteries. This is where the overlap exists; disuse atrophy, muscle wasting, and metabolic dysregulation all remain serious problems on Earth in many diseases. Examination of fundamental mechanisms by which hibernators may mitigate these issues in space provide 1) hope for improved human space health, 2) improved ability for deep space travel, and 3) a novel way to examine these protections for the benefit of humans on Earth. Thus, the STASH project is not merely to produce a real-life sci-fi hibernation pod (though it may perhaps lay some of the groundwork necessary for this), but also to derive new therapeutics for space faring and Earth-bound humans. In the words of Mark Boettger, medical advisor to Fauna Bio and a key member of the STASH development team, "Results from STASH will help clarify the role that hibernation-inspired drugs, and eventually hibernation itself, will play in protecting both astronauts from the harmful effects of microgravity and humans on Earth from related diseases."

The efforts of Fauna’s “Space Hibernation” team led by Mark Boettger and Ryan Sprenger are not only directed at examining hibernation in space. Currently, the team, in collaboration with Mike Weil at Colorado State University, is actively examining potential protections that hibernators might exhibit against simulated cosmic radiation in a project known as ASCRIPTS (Assessment of Simulated Cosmic Radiation Induced Pathology in Torpid Squirrels) (link). Results from this study, like the ultimate goal of STASH, is to elicit druggable targets to protect against radiation pathologies in space and on Earth. The pairing of a few people looking longingly to the sky and Fauna’s comparative genomic and proprietary AI platform allows us the real potential to find impactful drug targets for use in both space and diseases at home. “Ad Astra” Mark B.