[Infowarrior] - Pentagon: Zombie Pigs First, Then Hibernating Soldiers

[Richard Forno]

Pentagon: Zombie Pigs First, Then Hibernating Soldiers
	• By Katie Drummond
	• December 4, 2009  |
	• 4:50 pm  |

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/12/pentagon-zombie-pigs-first-then-hibernating-gis/
Around half of U.S. troop fatalities are caused by blood loss from  
battlefield injuries. Now, with another 30,000 troops deploying to  
Afghanistan, the Pentagon is pushing for medical advances that can  
save more lives during combat.  The Defense Department’s latest  
research idea: Stop bleeding injuries by turning pigs into the semi- 
undead. If it works out, we humans could be the next ones to be  
zombified.

Military’s mad-science arm Darpa has awarded $9.9 million to the Texas  
A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies (TIPS), to develop treatments  
that can extend a “golden period” when injured war fighters have the  
best chance of coming back from massive blood loss. Odds of survival  
plummet after an hour — during combat, that kind of quick evacuation,  
triage and treatment is often impossible.

The institute’s research will be based on previous Darpa-funded  
efforts. One project, at Stanford University, hypothesized that humans  
could one day mimic the hibernation abilities of squirrels — who  
emerge from winter months no worse for wear — using a pancreatic  
enzyme we have in common with the critters. The other, led by Dr. Mark  
Roth at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, used nematode  
worms and rats to test how hydrogen sulfide could block the body’s  
ability to use oxygen — creating a kind of “suspended animation” where  
hearts stop beating and wounds don’t bleed. After removing 60 percent  
of the rat’s blood, Dr. Roth managed to keep the critters alive for 10  
hours using his hydrogen sulfide cocktail.

The next logical step: Try the same thing on pigs. They’ve got a  
similar cardiovascular system to humans, and TIPS researchers Theresa  
Fossum and Matthew Miller think they can accurately predict human  
results from the swine trials. Using anesthetized pigs, the doctors  
are testing various compounds, some containing hydrogen sulfide, to  
find one that can safely keep the hemorrhaging animals “as close to  
death as possible.”

With a 15-person team working exclusively on the project, the  
institute anticipates successful results within 18 months. “Darpa  
wants this to happen yesterday, because it was needed yesterday,” Dr.  
Miller told Danger Room. Once the team comes up with the right elixir,  
it’ll undergo federally mandated safety testing. After that, the  
zombie vaccine will be sent to the battlefield for human application.

Dr. Fossum predicts that each soldier will carry a syringe into combat  
zones or remote areas, and medic teams will be equipped with several.  
A single injection will minimize metabolic needs, de-animating injured  
troops by shutting down brain and heart function. Once treatment can  
be carried out, they’ll be “re-animated” and — hopefully — as good as  
new.

 From rats, to pigs, to troops — to civilians. Dr. Miller anticipates  
dozens of medical applications, including the preservation of organs  
before transplants and suspension of life-threatening emergencies,  
like heart attacks and strokes. “Everybody’s talking about the  
military use of this, and that’s our focus now,” he says. “But really,  
this could be much, much bigger than that.”