Snakes would do great on Survivor. These animals can last weeks — even months — without food. A couple of recently discovered genetic changes may help.
Certain snakes and some other reptiles lack the gene encoding ghrelin, commonly known as the hunger hormone, researchers report in the Feb. 1 Open Biology. The gene encoding an essential enzyme that activates ghrelin is missing too. But ghrelin’s complicated relationship with hunger and its presence in other reptiles that can also withstand long fasts make the trend hard to interpret.
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