The latest scientific evidence suggests that on our beautiful planet there is a creature that can live forever. These are seemingly long-studied and well-known jellyfish, or rather, small creature called nutricular. Want to know how they found a jellyfish that lives forever?
Inconspicuous creatures
Nutricula jellyfish are known in scientific world for a long time. The first description of this creature appeared in the nineteenth century. The reproduction and life cycle of the nutricular is completely ordinary. Like all jellyfish, fertilization of eggs by sperm occurs on the surface of the sea, then the eggs turn into larvae. Then the planula sinks to the bottom and forms a polyp, from which a tiny jellyfish separates, which lives forever. A photo of these creatures is presented below.
External Turritopsis nutricula nothing remarkable; rather, we can say that it is a miniature creature. It has an umbrella with a diameter of less than 5 mm, which is surrounded by thin tentacles. Newly born jellyfish have only 8 of them, while an adult individual has up to 100 pieces. It also has a cross-shaped red spot formed in the middle of the umbrella by the digestive organs of the jellyfish. Newborn nutricula measure only 1 mm.
Amazing find
The end of the last century was marked amazing discovery. It turns out that jellyfish live forever. The discovery was made by the Italian Fernando Boero. Deciding to clean the once forgotten aquarium, the scientist discovered strange polyps. These unusual growths were similar to jellyfish that had previously lived in an aquarium, but without tentacles. The scientist decided to continue the experiment, although the rest of the creatures in the aquarium died. Filling it out sea water, Boero began to observe the polyps. After some time, they began to develop, and as a result, tiny nutricular jellyfish were born.
The seemingly impossible happened - the nutricular tissues turned the cycle around own development. Until this time, it was known that all jellyfish have a final stage of development - the reproduction phase. In most coelenterate animals, and not only in them, the birth of fertilized cells or eggs leads to the death of adult individuals. And from them the young emerge, the larvae of jellyfish turn into polyps, and from them small jellyfish are born. Boero's discovery reversed all knowledge about jellyfish. So, scientists have found a jellyfish that lives forever.
Life cycle
Representatives of this species, like other types of hydroid organisms, go through 2 stages of development. The first begins with the development of larvae after fertilization of the eggs. Then the larvae caught in the free space settle to the bottom of the ocean, where they turn into polyps. Thus, entire colonies of jellyfish appear, resembling a spindle or club in appearance. On at this stage During development, polyps form a kind of skeleton, at the end of which there are tentacles characteristic of jellyfish. Thus, an entire colony is capable of feeding on small creatures.
The second stage begins with the separation of young jellyfish from polyps. Thus, small jellyfish begin to lead a lifestyle familiar to us. Within a few months they reach sexual maturity, and the whole process repeats itself. How does it happen that jellyfish live forever? It's interesting that jellyfish have additional ways preservation of the species.
Features of jellyfish
Preservation of life is associated with the ability of hydroid creatures to undergo restoration processes. It has long been known that jellyfish can restore lost body parts in a short period of time. It has been experimentally proven that a jellyfish cut into pieces is capable of reproducing itself. This restoration process is called transdifferentiation. Essentially, one type of cell can develop into another, which means that, theoretically, all jellyfish live forever. However, many other creatures also have these abilities. Lizards can easily grow a new tail, and scientists are now able to grow individual organs from stem cells.
But the ability of the jellyfish nutriculara to restore its entire body is truly unique. She is able to repeat the process an infinite number of times and still remain forever young. It was these processes that gave scientists the idea that jellyfish live forever.
Today, scientists are closely monitoring this type of jellyfish in order to study the rejuvenation process in more detail. On our amazing planet there are still many creatures unknown to humans that have not yet revealed their secrets.
Everyone wants to live long, preferably forever. Pharaohs, tyrants of the past and present, rulers of the “free world” would give a lot for the elixir of immortality that prolongs mortal existence. It is unlikely that such medicine would be available ordinary people. So far such a miracle drug has not been found, but the search does not stop. Priests, alchemists, genetic scientists, microbiologists, pharmacists, any possibility of creating such a medicine, even if it does not make a person’s life eternal, but long, without symptoms of falling into childhood. Therefore, the immortal jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula aroused the suspicion of the scientific world with its incomprehensible behavior back in the 19th century. And at the end of the last century it became clear to them that this is probably the only living organism on planet Earth that ignores the usual life cycle.
Phoenix living in the ocean
Having created a sensation in the academic and pseudo-scientific environment, the immortal jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula, with a diameter not exceeding 5 mm and generally similar to all other fellows, lives quietly in the tropics and temperate climatic zone– from Caribbean Sea to Japan.
The fact that the hydroid jellyfish is immortal can be concluded from the following facts:
True, scientists conducted experiments on land, and not in their usual habitat - the ocean, and were also unable to prove the presence of individuals in it, whose age is estimated at thousands of years. But even such amazing results gave both food for thought and hope for a scientific solution to the mechanism of immortality.
Immortal life
Since the hydroid jellyfish is immortal, then why are we worse? - not only idle journalists and inquisitive bloggers who joined them, but also some scientists who foresaw the future glory of humanity’s benefactors and multiple Nobel Prize, turning into applause.
Alas, not everything is so simple on the thorny path of knowledge. And now the joyful exclamations gave way to boring explanations, replete with terms in Latin, why it has not yet been possible to produce the treasured medicine.
Seriously, the point is most likely that a person and a jellyfish, although both living creatures, almost entirely consist of water, but that’s where most of the similarities end. What is good for jellyfish is not necessarily useful for people.
However, the immortal jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula gave hope to humanity. After all, she is alive clear example of cheating death. The jellyfish found him, now it’s the people’s turn.
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 nutricular cells reversed their development cycle - after all, in all known species of these coelenterates, the medusoid form is the final stage 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)
Jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula does not want to surrender to the mercy of fleeting time. Aptly named immortal, this inhabitant of tropical and temperate waters is the only Living being, capable of turning back the time of his life and from an adult jellyfish again turn into a young, hopeful polyp.
There is probably no creature on Earth who would not want an answer to the question about the possibility eternal life. How does a jellyfish manage to do this? Turritopsis nutricula? Its secret lies in a phenomenon that scientists call “transdifferentiation,” which consists of the transformation of one type of cell into another.
Having reached sexual maturity, Turritopsis nutricula attaches to the seabed, retracts its tentacles and gradually turns into a polyp. Due to the ability to be “born” again, the Turritopsis nutricula jellyfish became cosmopolitan, settling almost throughout the world’s oceans.
Turritopsis nutricular has unique ability change the cells of the entire volume of her body countless times, becoming practically immortal. In any case, it has been proven that old age is not the reason why jellyfish leave this world. Most often, they become victims of predators or diseases, never getting the opportunity to use their chance at immortality. Therefore, all research related to the study of this phenomenon is carried out exclusively in laboratory conditions. Scientists hope immortal jellyfish will help them unlock their secrets eternal youth and endless life.
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