Arctic frog cryogenics
Rana sylvatica, the only amphibian found north of the arctic circle, has a very unique survival strategy: it pumps its body full of glucose and hormones just before freezing so that ice crystals don't cause irreversible damage to the creature's body. Then, when it comes time to thaw, the frog thaws slowly. The membranes around the heart begin to stretch, somehow causing a sort of energy discharge that constricts the heart muscles in an odd twitch that "wakes up" the dead frog.
I recognize that humans are far more complex than frogs, but perhaps the frogs' innovation is in the right direction. What is keeping the frogs' approach from working on more complex organisms?
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/78207. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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