ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. Fredrik Markussen is an author on ‘ c-fos induction in the choroid plexus, tanycytes and pars tuberalis is an early indicator of spontaneous arousal from torpor in a deep hibernator’, published in JEB. Fredrik is a PhD student in the lab of Shona Wood at UiT – Arctic University of Norway, investigating hibernation timer mechanisms in golden hamsters.
Fredrik Markussen
How did you become interested in biology?
I've always been fascinated by unanswered questions and phenomena that at first seem inexplicable. Biology is all around us, so it is an easy thing to become interested in, especially growing up in the countryside. Later in my education, I realized the incredible vastness of biology, the mindboggling amount of work and scientific thinking that has been done by so many people in so many diverging disciplines of biology. What seemed to be shared by all these researchers was an understanding, a passion and appreciation for the natural word. I think that seeing this led me to understand that biology is a discipline that offers a community of curious and driven researchers, containing countless puzzles to solve. I was nearly seduced by physics, but I found that physics felt a little too clinical to me, always trying to squeeze the world into boxes. Biology can get really weird, there's always exceptions to the rules and the lines are never straight. Nothing ever really fits neatly into a box; if it does, the box is strangely shaped and does not fit on the shelf with the other boxes. In a way, biology will always keep you on your toes. I think that's why I like it.
Describe your scientific journey and your current research focus
I have a BSc and MSc in biology with a focus on animal physiology from UiT – the Arctic University of Norway. In my bachelor's degree I was fortunate enough to be involved in the characterization of melatonin receptors in the Svalbard ptarmigan brain. For my master's, I was already interested in hibernation. In a collaboration with the University of Strasbourg, we investigated the possible changes of permeability in the blood–brain barrier and median eminence of the brain during hibernation in European hamsters. Now, doing my PhD studies with a focus on mechanisms of hibernation, we study golden hamster hibernation using several approaches. In the current paper, we investigated markers of activity in the brain during hibernation.
How would you explain the main findings of your paper to a member of the public?
Hibernation is a fascinating phenomenon for an animal to be in. With body temperatures approaching freezing, hibernators can survive until the harshest of environments passes and better times come. In our latest paper, we found that in the heart of the brain, the hypothalamus, there are cells which are not neurons that are active during hibernation. The specific location of these cells is one of the things that is interesting, as they are positioned to communicate and exchange information with the rest of the body. Fascinatingly, we were unable to find upregulation in markers of activity in brain areas usually thought of as the thermoregulation centres of the brain. Thus, our research is consistent with the involvement of the non-neuronal cells in the metabolic feedback regulation of hibernation.
Golden hamsters curl up into a ball during deep torpor and reach temperatures as low as 4°C. To the hand, the hamster is cold to the touch and its body is stiff. Incredibly, hamsters easily rewarm by activation of internal stores of brown adipose tissue, reaching euthermia within a few hours. Photo: Fredrik Markussen.
Golden hamsters curl up into a ball during deep torpor and reach temperatures as low as 4°C. To the hand, the hamster is cold to the touch and its body is stiff. Incredibly, hamsters easily rewarm by activation of internal stores of brown adipose tissue, reaching euthermia within a few hours. Photo: Fredrik Markussen.
What do you enjoy most about research, and why?
I like solving problems and developing the solutions to solve those problems. Most of the things that we tackle are novel, so to find a solution, the answer to questions big and small, or develop a solid hypothesis is very rewarding. Teamwork is an important part of these things, and working together with likeminded colleagues that are driven and brilliant is very enjoyable.
What is the hardest challenge you have faced in the course of your research and how did you overcome it?
The timings of hibernation are highly unpredictable. With the study design that we use, we have very specific physiological criteria that need to be in place before we can do the science we want. In the worst of cases, we have physiological states that only last for about 10 min and only occur once every week or so. We have only very rough guesses of when they are about to occur, so we've had to develop a remote monitoring solution so we can keep track of our animals whenever and wherever we are. Unfortunately, this has led to long waking nights obsessing over telemetries or suddenly rushing out from social gatherings like dinner and birthday parties with little to no explanation, leaving our friends and family puzzling over our hasty exits.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Tromsø is an amazing place. Anyone who likes the outdoors will like it here. UiT is a little bit special in that way because it's so close to nature, it is easy get out and enjoy wild nature after work. Personally, I enjoy climbing steep cliffs, skiing down powder snow on a sunny afternoon and photographing the wildlife during the midnight sun! The rainy days are either spent cooking food at home or using chemicals in the local darkroom.
Fredrik Markussen's contact details: Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT – Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, NO-9037, Norway.
E-mail: [email protected]
