A new program from DARPA called “Biostasis” aims to learn to slow down biological processes in the human body after a serious wound, increasing the chances of soldiers getting medical help on time.
And again DARPA with a project, as if born on the pages of a science fiction novel. Military physicians often have very little time to help soldiers on the battlefield before the fatal consequences of injuries become irreversible. And DARPA decided to offer a rather unexpected solution to this problem: slow biological processes so that doctors have more time to save a person. The new research program “Biostasis” is a search for ways to slow down the cellular activity to near a complete stop with biochemical substances that control energy at the level of proteins. If slow-moving or tree frogs are able to stabilize their cells so as to survive frost or complete dehydration, then similar techniques can give doctors more time to treat wounds on the battlefield.
In DARPA know that such a trick will not be easy to accomplish. It is necessary to slow down each cellular process on the same level and at the same time – you can not just pause a few while the others still function at full speed. In addition, it is necessary to minimize the damage when the cells are again launched at full capacity.
Now the program “Biostasis” is only at the very beginning of its development. First, scientists need to prove that this is possible in principle, and researchers will only take direct application of the techniques in the real world after five years, if, of course, by that time they manage to find reliable ways to carry out the plans. And of course, if the project succeeds, it will not only help doctors on the battlefield, but also doctors in quite normal life.
