Could the Antarctic Cod Aid Cardiac Research?

An Antarctic fish, known as the Rock or Antarctic Cod, could provide clues to major medical advances.

Researchers from the UK’s University of Birmingham and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are investigating the behaviour and physiology of the 'Antarctic Cod' (Notothenia coriiceps) which became isolated from its warmer water cousins around 30 million years ago when the Antarctic circumpolar current was formed. 

The olive-coloured fish is capable of maintaining a very low heart rate of less than 10 beats per minute, and it’s this control over its cardiovascular system that is of particular interest to scientists.

Controlling heart rate in human hearts would be extremely advantageous in medical terms - especially relating to the problems experienced by human hearts when made to beat slowly, such as during surgery involving heart-lung bypass, or fail to beat fast enough, possibly as a result of hypothermia in water or exposure on a mountain.