The reason mammals are not very good at tolerating hypoxic (i.e. low oxygen) environments, is because the brain relies heavily on oxygen for metabolism. It is so stingy, it uses about 20% of the oxygen in the body to make ATP. Without oxygen, the brain has to rely on glycolysis to make ATP and this process is not good at meeting the energy requirements of the neurons, ultimately resulting in […]
Adult fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) are more tolerant of environments devoid of oxygen than their larvae. In fact, they are able to survive up to 12 hours without oxygen by becoming paralyzed, which enables them to dramatically reduce metabolism and the need for oxygen. In contrast, Drosophila larvae expend a lot of energy trying to escape and are only able to tolerate a couple of hours without oxygen. This is surprising […]
There are many examples of animals that can naturally tolerate hypoxic and anoxic conditions without exhibiting pathologies associated with reoxygenation. Here are a few examples from this year’s conference: Dr. Anthony Signore (University of Nebraska) spoke about how some hypoxia tolerant animals can use carbon monoxide, you know that gas we think of as poisonous, to improve oxygen binding to hemoglobin in hypoxic conditions. Well known for their ability to […]
Still going strong…here are the highlights from several sessions held on Day 4: John Eme (California State University, San Marcos) presented data testing the effects of varying temperatures mimicking overwintering conditions on embryonic development of Lake whitefish. He found that indeed exposure to variable incubation temperatures between 2-8 deg C resulted in increased mortality. Moreover, the embryos hatched earlier and were smaller than animals exposed to constant temperatures. Nariman Hossein-Javaheri et al., (University […]
Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle 