Scientists have discovered that immortal animals live on Earth - these are jellyfish of the species Turritopsis nutricula. Of course, immortal jellyfish can also die, but only, as they say, “not by their own death”: they can be cut into pieces or simply eaten.
It is reported that the immortality of the Turritopsis nutricula jellyfish was discovered by the Italian scientist Fernando Boero. And, amazingly, he discovered this completely by accident!
First of all, it is necessary to tell what immortal jellyfish are. Turritopsis nutricula is a tiny jellyfish (no more than five millimeters in diameter) with a completely inconspicuous appearance. The shape of the jellyfish is dome-shaped, and along the edge of the umbrella there is a corolla of tentacles, the number of which increases during life: from 8 in a newly budded jellyfish to 80-90 in mature individual. This species of jellyfish, which is native to the Caribbean, has two stages of development: polyps and the jellyfish itself, as which it exists from several hours to several months. The creature was little studied and uninteresting to scientists until the 90s of the 20th century...
The genus Turritopsis became widely known due to the discovery in the 90s of the ability of jellyfish to rejuvenate themselves. Typically, jellyfish die after reproduction, but Turritopsis is able to return from the “adult” stage of the jellyfish to the “child” stage: individuals that have reached sexual maturity settle to the bottom and again turn into polyps. Theoretically, this cycle can be repeated indefinitely, making the creature potentially immortal.
So, one day the scientist Fernando Boero forgot about an aquarium with several Turritopsis nutricula jellyfish that he was studying. The water dried up and the experimental subjects, as the researcher thought, died. But... the scientist decided to examine the remains of jellyfish that had dried to the size of a match head before throwing them in the trash.
Imagine his surprise when it turned out that the jellyfish threw off their tentacles and again turned into larvae. What if the larvae didn’t die? Boero decided to continue the spontaneous experiment and, without touching anything, again filled the aquarium with water. After some time, a real miracle happened: the half-dried larvae turned into polyps, from which new jellyfish subsequently budded.
Thus, it turned out that inconspicuous, one might even say primitive, small jellyfish can do the impossible: arbitrarily control their own genes, so that in case of danger they can “move backward”, returning to the “children’s” stage of development and thus start their life anew.
What if, without dying a natural death, Turritopsis Nutricula under certain conditions, having multiplied too much, upset the balance of the world's oceans?
Dr Maria Miglietta from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama said in interview The Sun: "We're seeing a silent invasion of these jellyfish around the world." Turritopsis Nutricula jellyfish originally originated from the Caribbean region, but gradually they penetrated into other geographical areas.
U immortal Turritopsis nutricula have a lot of predatory enemies that exterminate their offspring, so there is no need to worry that this type of hydroid will fill the entire water space, scientists reassure.
Jellyfish and hydras have long been on the radar of biologists and geneticists, who hope to use these creatures to unlock the secrets of the aging process. The theory of the “biological immortality” of hydra was put forward in the 19th century, and in the late 1990s it was experimentally proven that hydras do not die due to aging. Note that biologists also know “immortal” cells capable of favorable conditions divide an infinite number of times. These include, for example, stem cells.
Turritopsis is thought to have originated in the Caribbean but has spread widely throughout to the globe. Most often, jellyfish can be seen in the Mediterranean Sea and off the coast of Japan. This species of jellyfish is virtually immortal, and some scientists, such as the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute, speak of a "worldwide silent invasion."
Biological immortality
Of course, you can kill a jellyfish. And it’s easy to do this without even noticing it. Physical immortality has not yet been found in any living organism on our planet. Most of all jellyfish species live from a few hours to many months before they die, and Turritopsis dohrnii is able to return to the state of a polyp - to the very first stage of the life cycle of cnidarians. Experiments in the laboratory have shown that a jellyfish can begin to “develop” in the opposite direction at any stage of life. Her dome and tentacles stop growing, then various processes and shoots appear on her body, which are overgrown with feeding polyps. As a result, the jellyfish returns to the stage hydroid.
This ability to turn the life cycle is observed as a reaction to unfavourable conditions a habitat. If something goes wrong in the life of Turritopsis dohrnii, it can always “return” to its childhood to try everything again. Currently, this is the only living organism of its kind. In the laboratory, 100% of all observed jellyfish were able to return to the polyp state, although in natural conditions Scientists were not lucky enough to observe such a degeneration. This is partly due to the transience of the process, and being in in the right place and in right time, and even with photo or video equipment it didn’t work out.
It must be said that keeping immortal jellyfish in artificial conditions is a very difficult matter. Currently there is only one scientist Shin Kubota(Shin Kubota) from Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan), contains a group of jellyfish for quite a long time - more than 2 years. According to the scientist, during this time his colony completely regenerated itself 10 times. The experiment continues today. The jellyfish colony is monitored daily to ensure that the animals are properly digesting the brine shrimp they are fed. Shin Kubota often appears in Japanese science media and even wrote several songs about his jellyfish.
Despite this remarkable feature, most jellyfish are devoured by other animals that feed on plankton. Therefore, it is too early to talk about a “worldwide invasion of immortal jellyfish” into the world’s oceans.
Recently, scientists have become interested in the jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula. How could such a simple creature attract such close attention of specialists, and even more so of geneticists? It's all about the next discovery. A certain scientist from Italy Fernando Boero (purely for his personal research) planted jellyfish of this species in an aquarium. Previously, no one had studied them thoroughly, probably because of their too modest size (5 mm) and absolutely nondescript appearance. For some reason, the scientist had to postpone his experiments, and he happily forgot about his pets. I remembered when the aquarium was already dry, and the inhabitants seemed to have already died. Boero decided to clear the aquarium of them and fill it with the next experimental subjects, but with his characteristic curiosity, he decided to study the already dried jellyfish.
Imagine his amazement when it was discovered that they did not die, but became larvae. He filled the aquarium with water again. After some time, the half-dried larvae became polyps, from which new jellyfish later budded. And so it turned out that the inconspicuous Turritopsis nutricula is an immortal jellyfish that accomplishes the seemingly impossible. She independently controls her genes and can “move backwards,” that is, she returns to the original stage of development and begins to live anew. In other words, the immortal jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula cannot die due to old age. She only dies if someone eats her or tears her into pieces.
Today, scientists believe that the tiny immortal jellyfish is the only earthly organism that can independently rejuvenate and regenerate. Moreover, she will repeat this cycle countless times. The immortal jellyfish Turritopsis belongs to the genus Hydroids, whose representatives live in the seas of temperate and tropical zones. This genus includes marine colonial coelenterates, namely polyps, the colonies of which consist of several hundred individuals. They are like bushes, motionless and securely attached to the substrate. Although there are also loners. In a colony, the intestinal cavity of an individual polyp is connected to a common intestinal cavity that runs through the entire colony. In other words, they are all united by a “common gut” through which all ingested food is distributed.
The immortal jellyfish has a dome-shaped umbrella, along its edge there is a corolla of tentacles. Moreover, the number of tentacles increases with age: a newly budded jellyfish will have no more than 8 of them, and later the number will increase to 90 pieces. The jellyfish has two stages of development: the first is the polyp, the second is the jellyfish itself. As the latter, it can exist from several hours to several months, and then returns to the first stage, endlessly repeating this cycle.
The immortal jellyfish comes from Caribbean, but today it is already found in other geographical areas. This happened because Turritopsis nutricula multiplied greatly. Some believe that such an increase in numbers may lead to an imbalance in the world's oceans. But Maria Miglietta (Doctor of the Institute of Tropical Research) is sure that there is no need to worry about filling all the reservoirs of this species with hydroids. Turritopsis nutricula has too a large number of predator enemies who are engaged in the extermination of their offspring. Although, this is probably not enough, since the number of immortal jellyfish is only increasing every year.
Hello to the readers of the project “On the Edge”! Have you ever wondered what immortality really is? Who is this immortal, where does he live, what does he eat? In general, how to live forever in a world where the end befalls everyone? This statement sounds like Science fiction- an immortal living organism living on Earth, although its existence does not violate any laws of nature. His life cycle absolutely natural, includes several stages, a kind of rebirth. But the result is still the same organism, practically unchanged...
Immortal jellyfish turritopsis nutricula
- This is a creature that cannot die a natural death. According to Wikipedia, they do not die and are the only earthly organism that is able to rejuvenate and live indefinitely, regenerating.
Their discovery happened completely by accident, as often happens with scientific sensations of this level. Their story, by the way, is very similar to the story associated with the discovery of penicillin - it involves an absent-minded scientist conducting experiments, a forgotten aquarium, and a completely random result that amazed many.
Experiments with the immortal jellyfish
So, Fernando Boero, in order to conduct some not very important experiments, planted several jellyfish of the species Turritopsis Nutricula in a separate aquarium. The choice fell on them purely by chance - these jellyfish, like most of their fellows, were unknown in wide circles - outwardly they are not memorable, and due to their size, they are generally practically invisible (they reach some 5 millimeters in diameter). In general, small and inconspicuous experimental subjects. Perhaps it is for this reason that the scientist forgot about them. No one remembered the aquarium; it dried up, and its inhabitants dried up along with it.
When the time came to remember the forgotten and never carried out experiment, and finding an empty vessel in its place, Mr. Fernando had no choice but to clean it of the accumulated dirt. This, by the way, is the only inconsistency in this whole story with the discovery - the scientist personally cleans the equipment, without resorting to the exploitation of the labor of juniors researchers... In our country it’s hard to believe, but history is silent on the details - maybe he really is.
Be that as it may, while cleaning the aquarium, the scientist came across the dried “corpses” of jellyfish, which he hastily studied. After all, a scientist must document everything that comes to hand. Imagine his surprise when he discovered that jellyfish, which were considered completely dead, turned out to be more alive than all living things, and in a very interesting position– they threw off their tentacles and turned into larvae!
Listening to his scientific instinct, Fernando continued his spontaneous experiment - he refilled the aquarium with water and left it for a while. The result was not long in coming. The larvae eventually turned into polyps, from which fresh jellyfish in turn budded.
Discovery of eternal life
The result of all these coincidences and random experiments was an unusual, and even sensational discovery - these miniature primitive organisms are able to independently, if necessary, “move backward” in the process of development. They rebuild their body, returning to the initial stage of development, thus starting a “new life”.
After research materials were published - photos, videos, pictures and documentation, and the life cycle of jellyfish was studied in more detail, scientists came to the conclusion that perhaps representatives of this species are the only truly immortal animal in the world, a living organism with absolute regeneration.
But after studying their habitat - the Caribbean, a terrible truth was revealed... A creature that lives forever and constantly produces offspring can disrupt any balanced food chain. The fact is that since there will always be more of them than necessary, they will simply crowd out other species.
Subsequent study of these jellyfish yielded even more shocking results.
Immortal jellyfish
It turns out Turritopsis Nutricula are taking over the planet!
Behind last decades due to climate changes in the equator region, more than profitable terms for reproduction. More and more strong warming the planet will soon make almost any body of water on the planet suitable for life of this species.
But there is no need to worry that everything around will be filled with these jellyfish, since their population is maintained at the required level big amount natural predators that feed on the offspring of Turritopsis Nutricula.
The discovery of a species with such extraordinary properties made it possible to make a significant breakthrough in research funded by the military department.
Their research in the same area, but aimed at prolonging the life of the body, has so far yielded best result in the form of a laboratory mouse whose lifespan was extended by 20%. But the discovery of Fernando Boero gave a new impetus in the direction of such searches. He may still have to answer the question of why these jellyfish live so long.
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Text— Agent Q.
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The only living creature on the planet that leads an immortal life is the jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula. These representatives of the hydroid class can be destroyed sea predators, but by his death amazing creatures never die.
The Creature Who Turned Back Time
The habitat of jellyfish is the warm waters of tropical and temperate zones. They were first discovered in the water area Caribbean Sea. Appearance Turritopsis nutricula is similar to its many relatives.
The aquatic inhabitant is a dome-shaped “umbrella”, the diameter of which does not exceed 5 mm. The edges of the transparent body are framed by thread-like tentacles - their number reaches 90 pieces. The creature is decorated with a red cross-shaped spot formed by the digestive organs.
Unlike other hydroids, which die after reaching reproductive age and participation in the process of reproduction, the immortal jellyfish returns again to the “baby” stage of the larva, which sinks to the bottom and grows, turning into a polyp. He, in turn, transforms into a young individual. This regeneration cycle can last an infinite number of times.
Immortality Mechanism
The laurels of the discovery of immortality belong to the Italian naturalist Fernando Boero. In one of the aquariums of his laboratory there were several specimens of jellyfish necessary for conducting an experiment, which, however, the scientist soon forgot about. Imagine the researcher’s surprise when, while cleaning the vessel, he saw jellyfish throwing off their tentacles and transforming into larvae!
Becoming interested, Boero again placed the embryos in the water, where they safely reached the stage of polyps, from which young hydroids later budded. Thus scientific world learned about the natural rejuvenation of Turritopsis nutricula. According to one of the hypotheses of biologists, these jellyfish are able to control their genes, as a result of which the cells of their body are transformed from one type to another.
The unique ability of the jellyfish has attracted close attention from geneticists trying to establish how sea creature managed to reverse the aging process. The mechanism of immortality, as well as organ restoration, has concerned scientists for decades.
A project dedicated to the creation of an “eternal” organism has been organized at the Pentagon. The US government annually allocates $6 million for laboratory experiments. So far, scientists have only achieved a 20% extension in the life of mice.
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