Scientists uncover how giant deep-sea isopods survive years without food

Their study found a dual survival strategy in deep-sea isopods to cope with oligotrophic conditions: an enlarged stomach, accounting for about two-thirds of the animal's body, that can store large amounts of food, and an extremely low basal metabolic rate. It also identified a gene named ND1 that originated from an exogenous symbiotic bacterium and integrated into the isopod genome, which may play a critical role in the duration of starvation.

To test the gene's function, the research team inserted ND1 into zebrafish, nematodes, and human cell lines. The experiments showed that ND1 increased energy use at normal temperatures but reduced energy metabolism under low-temperature conditions. In zebrafish, it improved starvation tolerance by 37 percent.