Hidden Human 'Superpowers' Could Help Fight Diabetes
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Hidden human 'superpowers' could one day help develop new treatments to reverse diabetes and neurodegeneration.
This the conclusion of research from University of Utah that suggests hibernating animals' superpowers could lie dormant within our own DNA and could potentially be unlocked to improve our health.
"We were fascinated by one big mystery: how do hibernating mammals completely rewire their metabolism—and then reverse it—without damaging their brains or bodies?" Chris Gregg, paper author and U of U Health neurobiology professor, told Newsweek.
"They gain huge amounts of fat, become insulin resistant, shut down metabolism and body temperature for weeks or months... and then bounce back without the chronic diseases that plague humans under similar conditions.
"That led us to a key idea: maybe the answers aren't in protein-coding genes, which are mostly shared across mammals, but in the noncoding regulatory elements—the parts of the genome that act like switches and dimmers for gene activity."
The dangerous health changes hibernating animals can recover from are similar to those seen in type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and stroke. It appears humans have the genetic framework to do this, too, if we can figure out how to bypass some of our metabolic switches.
A medical doctor using advanced DNA technology, looking at computer screens.
A medical doctor using advanced DNA technology, looking at computer screens.
AndreyPopov/Getty Images
The researchers discovered that a gene cluster called the 'fat mass and obesity (FTO) locus' plays an important role in hibernators' abilities—and humans have these genes too.
"What's striking about this region is that it is the strongest genetic risk factor for human obesity," Gregg said in a statement. But hibernators have been observed to be able to use genes in the FTO locus in new ways to their advantage.
The team identified hibernator-specific DNA regions near the FTO locus that regulate the activity of neighboring genes, turning them up or down. The research team speculate that this process, including those in or near the FTO locus, allows hibernators to gain weight before settling in for winter. During hibernation, they slowly use these fat reserves for energy.
The hibernator-specific regulatory regions outside of the FTO locus seem particularly crucial for tweaking metabolism. When the researchers mutated the hibernator-specific regions in mice, they saw changes in their weight and metabolism.
Some mutations sped up or slowed down weight gain under specific dietary conditions, while others affected the ability to recover body temperature after a hibernation-like state or tuned overall metabolic rate up or down, according to the study.
Instead of being genes themselves, the hibernator-specific DNA regions the researchers identified were in fact DNA sequences that contact nearby genes and turn their expression up or down, "fine-tuning" them.
A hedgehog hibernating in a natural woodland habitat.
A hedgehog hibernating in a natural woodland habitat.
Callingcurlew23/Getty images
"Our research reveals that hidden 'superpowers' from hibernating mammals may be linked to specific genetic elements that exist in human DNA—in the form of conserved, noncoding regulatory elements that control metabolism, brain health and resilience to stress," Gregg explained.
"By comparing the genomes of hibernators and non-hibernators, we identified thousands of DNA elements that hibernators have lost or rewired—especially those regulating how the brain responds to fasting and recovery after fasting. When we deleted some of these elements in mice, they changed body weight, energy use, thermoregulation, and even age-related memory behaviors.
"One big idea from the study for future testing is that humans have a stable internal body temperature and limited range for metabolic changes and physiological flexibility. The elements we uncovered may act as 'genomic brakes' that limit the range of biological responses to some stressors and hibernators inactivated these DNA elements to evolved expanded capabilities for biological flexibility and resilience."
Understanding hibernators' metabolic flexibility could lead to better treatments for human metabolic disorders. However finding the genetic regions that may enable hibernation is no easy feat, with endless DNA to sift through.
"What this means is that humans may have the capacity for some aspects of these adaptations, but we would need to unlock them," said Gregg.
He explained that if we can understand how to reactivate or mimic these genetic programs, it could lead to new treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity "by improving metabolic flexibility", Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases "via the activation of neuroprotective and regenerative gene programs" and stroke and injury recovery "by tapping into natural repair and neuroprotection".
It could also potentially help with healthy aging and longevity.
A medical device with a hand pointing to a blood sugar meter for diabetes.
A medical device with a hand pointing to a blood sugar meter for diabetes.
MarcelaTo narrow down the regions involved, the researchers used multiple independent whole-genome technologies to ask which regions might be relevant for hibernation, before looking for overlap between the results from each technique. For example, they looked for sequences of DNA that most mammals share but had recently changed rapidly in hibernators.
They also found the genes that act as central coordinators or "hubs" of these fasting-induced changes to gene activity. They discovered that many of the DNA regions that had recently changed also appeared to interact with these central hubs.
Hence, the researchers expect that the evolution of hibernation requires specific changes to the controls of the hub genes—helping to narrow down further the DNA elements that are worth further investigation.
Crucially, most of the hibernator-associated changes in the genome appeared to "break" the function of specific pieces of DNA, rather than make new functions. This suggests hibernators may have lost constraints that would otherwise prevent extreme flexibility in the ability to control metabolism.
"In essence, we're learning to unlock a dormant resilience code in the human genome, using lessons from species that have mastered the art of survival under extreme conditions. It is a big idea that needs much more work to be tested," said Gregg.
He said their next areas of focus include testing their "genomic brakes" hypothesis further and exploring the hibernation hub genes and potentially developing them as novel drug targets that enable them to develop medicines that promote metabolic health and neuroprotection.
They are also studying hibernation mechanisms in cancer cell evolution and treatment resistance.
Do you have a tip on a health story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about diabetes? Let us know via health@newsweek.com.
Reference
Ferris, E., Gonzalez Murcia, J. D., Rodriguez, A. C., Steinwand, S., Stacher Hörndli, C., Traenkner, D., Maldonado-Catala, P. J., & Gregg, C. (2025). Genomic convergence in hibernating mammals elucidates the genetics of metabolic regulation in the hypothalamus. Science, 381(6663), 494–500. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp4025
Steinwand, S., Stacher Hörndli, C., Ferris, E., Emery, J., Gonzalez Murcia, J. D., Rodriguez, A. C., Spotswood, R. J., Chaix, A., Thomas, A., Davey, C., & Gregg, C. (2025). Conserved noncoding cis elements associated with hibernation modulate metabolic and behavioral adaptations in mice. Science, 381(6663), 501–507. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp4701
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