Japan-US team wins parody Nobel Prize for research into groundbreaking way to 'catch your breath'

By Tayyaba Nisar Khan

ISTANBUL (AA) - A collaborative team from Japan and the United States has been awarded the parody Ig Nobel Physiology Prize for their unconventional discovery that mammals can breathe through their intestines via their anus.

The team’s research, which was published in 2021, demonstrates that introducing an oxygen-rich liquid into the rectum can help alleviate breathing issues in lab mice and pigs with respiratory diseases.

The study, led by Takanori Takebe, a professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, suggests that the intestines can play a role in oxygen respiration.

Takebe expressed hope that this research might evolve into an effective treatment for individuals struggling with artificial respiration.

The Ig Nobel Prize, an award given by the magazine Annals of Improbable Research based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, recognizes research that first "makes people laugh and then makes them think."

This year’s win marks the 18th consecutive year a Japanese team has been honored with this humorous science award.