( CNN ) -- `` Usually when I mention suspended animation people will flash me the Vulcan sign and laugh , '' says scientist Mark Roth . But he 's not referring to the plot of a `` Star Trek '' episode . Roth is completely serious about using lessons he 's learned from putting some organisms into suspended animation to help people survive medical trauma . He spoke at the TED2010 conference in Long Beach , California , in February . The winner of a MacArthur genius fellowship in 2007 , Roth described the thought process that led him and fellow researchers to explore ways to lower animals ' metabolism to the point where they showed no signs of life -- and yet were not dead . More remarkably , they were able to restore the animals to normal life , with no apparent damage . Read more about Roth on TED.com . The Web site of Roth 's laboratory at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle , Washington , describes the research this way : `` We use the term suspended animation to refer to a state where all observable life processes ( using high resolution light microscopy ) are stopped : The animals do not move nor breathe and the heart does not beat . We have found that we are able to put a number of animals ( yeast , nematodes , drosophila , frogs and zebrafish ) into a state of suspended animation for up to 24 hours through one basic technique : reducing the concentration of oxygen . '' Visit Mark Roth 's laboratory . Roth is investigating the use of small amounts of hydrogen sulfide , a gas that is toxic in larger quantities , to lower metabolism . In his talk , he imagined that `` in the not too distant future , an EMT might give an injection of hydrogen sulfide , or some related compound , to a person suffering severe injuries , and that person might de-animate a bit ... their metabolism will fall as though you were dimming a switch on a lamp at home . `` That will buy them the time to be transported to the hospital to get the care they need . And then , after they get that care ... they 'll wake up . A miracle ? We hope not , or maybe we just hope to make miracles a little more common . ''
Mark Roth is a scientist who is studying ways to put life into suspended animation . In a TED Talk , he describes how his lab has put some organisms into a suspended state . The animals are revived and appear to suffer no lasting damage , he says . Such techniques may one day keep people from dying so they can get urgent care , he says .