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 range of jellyfish - warm waters 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.
As you know, any creature is mortal, and each representative of fauna or flora has a period of stay in the world of the living allotted by the Creator. This truth, considered an axiom, is trying to refute one of unique species coelenterates - immortal jellyfish nutricula
(Turritopsis nutricula).
The discovery of the ability of this species of living beings to live forever excited the scientific community, the press and the media - after all, understanding the secret of immortality of tiny jellyfish nutricular gives hope to us, intelligent ones, if not to achieve eternal existence, then at least to extend our lifespan.
But let's take things in order.
Jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula has been known to the scientific world for quite a long time - its description was published back in 1857. The reproduction and life cycle of the nutricular is quite normal - fertilization of the egg by male reproductive products in sea water, the transformation of the egg into a planula, the settling of the planula on the substrate and the formation of a polyp, which buds into tiny jellyfish, and so on according to a well-known scenario.
Appearance of a jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula is also quite ordinary - a deep umbrella with a diameter of less than 5 mm is surrounded by a corolla of thread-like tentacles, of which newborn jellyfish have only 8, and in adult individuals can reach 80-100 pieces. Some “decoration” is a cross-shaped red spot formed in the center of the umbrella by the digestive organs of the jellyfish. Newborn nutriculars have no more than 1 mm in umbrella diameter - tiny and unattractive creatures.
But at the end of the last century, this animal revealed one of its amazing properties- the ability to live forever.
The laurels of the discovery of the immortality of this jellyfish belong to the Italian Fernando Boero, who quite by accident discovered it in a dried-up aquarium, where, in addition to fish and other animals, several individuals lived Turritopsis nutricula, strange polypoid formations. Having examined the find more closely, the scientist noticed that these tiny polyps resemble jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula, but only without tentacles.
Surprised, Boero removed all the dead animals from the aquarium, leaving only a strange find, and filled it with water, deciding to check whether the discovered polyps were alive. After some time, they came to life and began to develop, then tiny jellyfish began to bud from the polyps. Turritopsis nutricula.
The incredible happened - the nutriculae reversed the cycle of their development - after all, in all known species of these coelenterates, the medusoid form is the final stage of the life cycle - after the phase of sexual reproduction, jellyfish, as a rule, die, giving life to offspring in the form of fertilized cells that turn into planulae, and then into polyps.
Jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula crossed out this scenario of the general development of hydroid coelenterates - under the influence of unfavorable factors that threatened them with death, they returned from adult animals to " childhood"The jellyfish threw off unnecessary tentacles, settled to the bottom, and turned into small polyps, which were easier to endure the hardships of dehydration in the aquarium.
Essentially, this fact can be represented as the return of an animal from old age to the childhood stage, and if this cycle is repeated endlessly, then theoretically it turns out that jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula capable of endless life.
Of course, not all organisms on Earth die of old age - enemies, diseases and extremely unfavourable conditions habitats often kill animals and plants long before the reserve of viability is exhausted. But sooner or later, everyone dies, but the immortal jellyfish is able to regain her youth and start life over.
Of course, one can argue - is this the same individual and the same jellyfish that turned into a polyp and gave birth to offspring? After all, the immortality of an individual animal or plant contradicts many postulates and laws of the development of life, including Darwin’s theory of evolution - each of the next generations of living beings acquires new qualities and properties that help it survive in conditions of fierce competition for a place in the sun. An organism capable of living forever does not develop and remains in its original form throughout the entire history of its existence, therefore it is a weak link in evolution - it has a high probability of dying from enemies and diseases that are constantly progressing and improving.
Perhaps this is what is happening - no one has yet been able to discover a jellyfish whose age would be calculated in thousands of years - the discovery of the Italian Fernando Boero only theoretically “awarded” these animals with the ability of eternal existence. However, the ability Turritopsis nutricula to repeat the life cycle is unique and does not appear in other known creatures.
Jellyfish ability Turritopsis nutricula live forever even caused some panic and hypotheses in scientific circles - supposedly nutricular substances are capable of filling the World Ocean, displacing others known species aquatic animals, and thereby disrupt the biological balance of the planet. As evidence, the fact is mentioned that previously nutriculars were considered inhabitants of waters Caribbean, and currently they are found in many seas of warm latitudes.
But such hypotheses do not have a sufficient scientific basis - after all, nutricular tissues inhabit sea waters for more than one million years, nevertheless, they failed to upset the balance of life. In addition, jellyfish in general are a very resilient form of life, and the expansion of their range individual species caused by climate change or other factors has been known for a long time. In particular, the outbreak in different regions Nomura's jellyfish have recently been the subject of discussion among many scientific sources and media.
The taxonomy of the immortal jellyfish looks like this:
- Class: Hydrozoa
- Squad: Anthomedusae
- Family: Oceanidae
- Genus: Turritopsis
- View: Turritopsis nutricula(McCrady, 1857)
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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Can immortality exist on our planet? Is there a form of life on our planet that can exist forever? It turns out there is such a thing creature- This is the jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula. This mysterious inhabitant of the seas never dies a natural death, she can live forever, that is, she is practically immortal!
This jellyfish is being actively studied by geneticists and marine biologists; they are trying to understand how this tiny creature is able to reverse the aging process.
These tiny creatures (jellyfish of this species are only 4-5 millimeters in diameter), unlike most jellyfish, do not die after participating in the reproductive cycle, that is, after mating, Turritopsis nutricula returns to the juvenile stage. According to scientists, the hydroid jellyfish of this species is the only known organism on our planet that is capable of independently regenerating and rejuvenating. This jellyfish can repeat this cycle an infinite number of times, which makes it practically immortal.
Jellyfish of the species Turritopsis nutricula have two stages of development: polyps and the jellyfish itself. The lifespan of a jellyfish is not that long - from several hours to several months. But the most interesting thing is that as a result of the aging process, this multicellular organism does not die at all, it returns to the polyp stage, and this cycle repeats endlessly. This is immortality!
The discovery of this phenomenon, as often happens in science, happened by accident. One day, the Italian scientist Fernando Boero planted several specimens of this species of jellyfish in his aquarium for preservation. Jellyfish of this species, due to their inconspicuous appearance and rather small size, were practically unknown general public. It turned out that for some reason the planned experiments had to be postponed, and the scientist simply forgot about the jellyfish placed in the aquarium. The water in the aquarium dried up, and it seemed that all the inhabitants of the aquarium had died. But, like a true naturalist, before throwing away the entire contents of the aquarium, he still tried to study the remains of jellyfish, dried to the size of a match head.
His surprise knew no bounds. It turned out that the jellyfish did not die, they just threw off their tentacles and turned into larvae again. Boero continued his spontaneous experiment and simply filled the aquarium with water. After some time, the scientist witnessed a real miracle - the larvae of half-dried jellyfish turned into polyps, from which new jellyfish subsequently budded.
As a result of further experiments, it turned out that small jellyfish - inconspicuous and primitive creatures, do something impossible - they can arbitrarily control their own genes. In case of danger, these creatures cause time to “move back”, they return to the “childhood” stage of development and begin their lives anew.
The jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula is a creature that can live forever. Video.
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