Scientists may have found an unexpected resource in the fight against extreme heat: studying camels.
A new study published in BMC Genomics found that camel cells remained more stable than human cells when exposed to rising temperatures, offering new insight into how some species may naturally tolerate intense heat.
According to a news release, researchers from Florida Atlantic University and collaborating institutions compared human and camel skin fibroblasts — cells that help support and maintain tissue structure — under both moderate heat (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and more extreme heat (105.8 degrees Fahrenheit).
The findings come as rising global temperatures and intensifying heat waves place increasing stress on people, wildlife, and ecosystems worldwide.
By understanding how certain animals cope with extreme heat, scientists may eventually improve protections for human health, strengthen agriculture, and better predict which species are most vulnerable to climate change.
The researchers focused on one-humped camels, which are well adapted to the harsh deserts of North Africa and the Middle East.
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But the study went beyond identifying animals that can survive extreme conditions. It also introduced a new way to examine heat resilience at the genetic level, especially in cases where researchers have limited biological samples to work with.
Rather than relying solely on traditional methods that measure whether genes are switched on or off, the team used a model that analyzed how consistently genes responded across individuals after temperature changes.
Using that framework, the researchers grouped genes into three broad categories: genes that remain stable and help regulate cellular systems, genes that activate in response to heat, and genes whose behavior becomes less organized under stress.
In simple terms, camel cells appeared to respond to heat in a more adaptable and coordinated way, while human cells reacted more rigidly and under tighter biological control. That difference may help explain why camels can continue functioning in temperatures that would place far greater strain on the human body.
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As temperatures continue to rise, scientists are searching for better ways to understand heat stress and its long-term effects on habitats, food systems, and public health.
Because the new method can still be effective with small sample sizes, researchers say it could also help scientists study heat resistance in ecosystems, microbial communities, and other species that are difficult to sample extensively.
"This research gives us a fundamentally new way to think about resilience in biological systems," co-author and FAU professor Valery Forbes said in the university's release. "By focusing on how gene expression variability changes under stress, we can identify mechanisms that help some species maintain stability while others become more vulnerable."
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