Long Term Sperm and Suspended Animation

SNAKES – Long Term Sperm and Suspended Animation

music; ambience: Garter Snakes

Right now in Manitoba, Canada, thousands of Red-Sided Garter Snakes are emerging from hibernation and mating in a series of limestone pits. Listen carefully and you can hear the sound they make as they rub against each other. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Scientists are particularly interested in Garter snakes because they can do a number of things that we humans would like to, but can’t.

“Female garter snakes can store sperm in their reproductive tract and they can do that for years. ”

Bob Mason is a professor of zoology at Oregon State University.

“The record that we know is about nine years where a garter snake mated and then she didn’t have any contact with a male and yet after that length of time, she gave birth to a perfectly normal litter of young. We all now that humans are interested in these things with artificial insemination and so forth. So how can garter snakes do this just naturally without any freezing whatsoever and will that provide any clues that will help us to be able to store eggs and sperm ourselves?”

And while scientists ponder those questions, Garter snakes harbor yet another mystery.

“Garter snakes can hibernate for eight months of the year and yet when they emerge from hibernation they’re not gaunt and skinny little things. They’re actually, have only lost less than ten percent of their weight. So their hibernation could have implications for us in believe it or not, in space travel. So we’re looking at now sending people out into space for extended periods of time. That is going to be, everyone thinks, in some sort of suspended animation. Do garter snakes have any clues in their physiology that might provide a means of enabling space travel for long periods of time as well?”

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.
music

Long Term Sperm and Suspended Animation

How are Garter Snakes able to survive 8 months of hibernation with only minor weight loss?
Air Date:05/17/2022
Scientist:
Transcript:

SNAKES - Long Term Sperm and Suspended Animation music; ambience: Garter Snakes Right now in Manitoba, Canada, thousands of Red-Sided Garter Snakes are emerging from hibernation and mating in a series of limestone pits. Listen carefully and you can hear the sound they make as they rub against each other. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Scientists are particularly interested in Garter snakes because they can do a number of things that we humans would like to, but can't. "Female garter snakes can store sperm in their reproductive tract and they can do that for years. " Bob Mason is a professor of zoology at Oregon State University. "The record that we know is about nine years where a garter snake mated and then she didn't have any contact with a male and yet after that length of time, she gave birth to a perfectly normal litter of young. We all now that humans are interested in these things with artificial insemination and so forth. So how can garter snakes do this just naturally without any freezing whatsoever and will that provide any clues that will help us to be able to store eggs and sperm ourselves?" And while scientists ponder those questions, Garter snakes harbor yet another mystery. "Garter snakes can hibernate for eight months of the year and yet when they emerge from hibernation they're not gaunt and skinny little things. They're actually, have only lost less than ten percent of their weight. So their hibernation could have implications for us in believe it or not, in space travel. So we're looking at now sending people out into space for extended periods of time. That is going to be, everyone thinks, in some sort of suspended animation. Do garter snakes have any clues in their physiology that might provide a means of enabling space travel for long periods of time as well?" Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner. music