This Animal Survives 18 Minutes Without Oxygen | Gary Lewin | 309

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Nick talks with Prof. Gary Lewin (Max Delbrück Center, Berlin) about naked mole-rats, which in lab tests survived 18 minutes in pure nitrogen by shutting down brain activity, keeping the heart beating, and switching to fructose for fuel.

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

• From Pain Research to Mole-Rats: The work began when the animals turned out not to feel the burn of capsaicin.

• Ecology & Eusociality: Colonies with a queen, one breeding male, workers, and soldiers, spread across semi-arid East Africa.

• Where the Low Oxygen Comes From: Piling into one sleeping chamber, rather than the burrow air itself.

• 18 Minutes in Pure Nitrogen: In lab tests they pass out, gasp about once a minute, and fully revive.

• Brain Off, Heart On: Brain activity drops to zero while the heart holds 50 beats per minute.

• Fructose as Backup Fuel: Fructose transporters in brain and heart let glycolysis keep running without oxygen.

• Queens, Odor & Longevity: One queen molecule (IPM) suppresses breeding; a queen can live 39 years.

• Pain, Acid & Navigation: Acid insensitivity, about 80% fewer pain receptors, and navigation by about 90 hairs.

*Not medical advice.

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