DARPA's new program is looking for ways to 'slow biological time'

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The Pentagon is hoping to tap into the incredible survival techniques of some of nature’s hardiest creatures to ‘slow biological time’ on the battlefield.DARPA’s new program, dubbed Biostasis, aims to develop ways to buy extra time for wounded soldiers between the moment of injury and first medical treatment.This window, known as the ‘golden hour,’ is a critical for survival – but in reality, it’s often far less than sixty minutes.With the Biostasis program, DARPA hopes to slow down biochemical processes in living cells, to prolong the amount of time it takes before a system collapses. DARPA’s new program, dubbed Biostasis, aims to develop ways to buy extra time for wounded soldiers between the moment of injury and first medical treatment.

This window, known as the ‘golden hour,’ is a critical for survival – but in reality, it’s often far less than sixty minutesAccording to DARPA, the idea is essentially: ‘slow life to save life.’In nature, some organisms are able to use proteins to control cellular functions in a way that allows this.Tardigrades, for example, can induce a state known as cryptobiosis to survive extreme environmental conditions, from freezing or near-total dehydration, to extreme radiation.While it may appear that all metabolic processes have stopped in a tardigrade in cryptobiosis, the creature still lives.‘At the molecular level, life is a set of continuous biochemical reactions, and a defining characteristic of these reactions is that they need a catalyst to occur at all,’ said Tristan McClure-Begley, the Biostasis program manager. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Burger-making robot ‘Flippy’ that cooks the perfect patty… Volkswagen unveils its electric self-driving concept car… ‘Sometimes when we touch, the honesty’s too much’: Elon Musk… Lyft says it will now offer rides to and from the hospital…

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‘Within a cell, these catalysts come in the form of proteins and large molecular machines that transform chemical and kinetic energy into biological processes.‘Our goal with Biostasis is to control those molecular machines and get them to slow their roll at about the same rate so that we can slow down the entire system gracefully and avoid adverse consequences when the intervention is reversed or wears off.’ With the Biostasis program, DARPA hopes to slow down biochemical processes in living cells, to prolong the amount of time it takes before a system collapses.

According to DARPA, the idea is essentially: ‘slow life to save life.’ File photoThe program will be seeking proposals for ways to slow down biochemical processes.This could include antibodies or holistic treatments for whole cells and tissues.Eventually, according to DARPA, the plan is to scale up to the entire organism.To be successful, the method must be able to slow all measurable biological functions without causing too much damage when the system returns to normal speed.‘Our treatments need to hit every cellular process at close to the same rate, and with the same potency and efficacy,’ McClure-Begley said.‘We can’t focus treatments to interrupt just a subset of known critical processes.’ In nature, some organisms are able to use proteins to control cellular functions in a way that allows this.

Tardigrades, for example, can induce a state known as cryptobiosis to survive extreme environmental conditions, from freezing to near-total dehydrationBased on processes seen in nature, the experts say it could be possible to apply similar techniques to soldiers to improve their survival chances.Like tardigrades, wood frogs are also able to tough it out in harsh conditions. The frogs can even survive being completely frozen for days on end, DARPA notes.Despite how different these two animals are, they are both able to selectively stabilize the ‘machinery’ in their cells.