Hibernating bears offer blood clotting clues

iStock/Martina Birnbaum

Reducing a key protein can help to prevent the formation of blood clots, according to a new study which used hibernating bears to identify naturally protective mechanisms.

Research from the University of Reading, with collaborators in Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden, found that reduction in the Hsp47 protein prevents the formation of blood clots in bears, pigs and humans when they are still for days, weeks, months, or even years at a time.