Turritopsis rubra is a small species of hydrozoan, a type of jellyfish-like organism that is found in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern coast of the United States. It is an unusual species due to its ability to potentially achieve biological immortality, making it of great interest to scientists studying aging and the potential for reversing the aging process.
Turritopsis rubra is able to achieve this feat through a process known as transdifferentiation, in which cells are able to transform into different cell types. In the case of T. rubra, when the jellyfish is subjected to environmental stress or physical injury, it is able to transform its cells into a juvenile form, essentially allowing it to revert back to an earlier stage of development. This process allows the jellyfish to repair any damage and essentially start anew, potentially avoiding the normal aging process and allowing it to live indefinitely.
While the idea of a potentially immortal jellyfish may be intriguing, it is important to note that this process has only been observed in lab conditions and it is not yet known if T. rubra is truly immortal in the wild. Additionally, while the concept of reversing the aging process may seem appealing, it is not without its drawbacks and ethical considerations. If humans were able to achieve a similar level of regenerative ability, it could potentially lead to overpopulation and strain on resources.
Despite these uncertainties, the study of T. rubra and its ability to regenerate offers valuable insights into the biology of aging and the potential for developing treatments for age-related diseases. It also highlights the incredible adaptability and resilience of certain species in the face of environmental challenges.
Spanish Scientists Shed Light on Why Jellyfish Turritopsis Dohrnii Can Live Forever
Semantically and philosophically, it is still unknown how Turritopsis dohrnii changes its cells so fast or if the resulting medusae are the same organism. When the study Bavestrello et al. Polyp of Turritopsis dohrnii from a colony generated by a single rejuvenated medusa. Stomach cross-shaped in axial view, manubrium not longer than bell cavity. It's easy to be envious of the perpetual jellyfish, but you must be careful what desires you make. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scientists Say They Found the Genes That Makes Immortal Jellyfish Immortal
They collected samples and performed whole genome analysis to find out. The immortal jellyfish as it is better known popularly propagate and then, faced with the normal career path of dying, they opt instead to revert to a sexually immature stage. The drivers of the Read Also: Conclusion Scientists can now understand the unique features of the species of jellyfish that clones. The exumbrella appears granulated and is slightly opaque. Phylum Cnidaria: corals, medusae, hydroids, myxozoans.
The polyps branch out Polyps asexually reproduce to create medusae buds, which grow on the perisarc covered region from short stems. Branches 160 to 200 mm in diameter, some few expanding distally; perisarc firm, mostly heavily infested with detritus and algae, without annulations, terminating below hydranths. Instead, they transform themselves back into their juvenile polyp state, and the cycle starts again — and keeps happening, possibly indefinitely. Perisarc double-layered, inner layer corrugated. Read Also: Life Cycle Diagram of T. Long story short, the immortal jellyfish appear to have twice as many copies of the genes associated with repair and protection than its related — but mortal — cousin, the crimson jellyfish known as Turritopsis rubra.
Thus, the only known way they can die is if they get consumed by another fish or if a disease strikes the jelly. Read Also: Because it forms by an ability to clone, the organism never truly dies—some form of itself lives on endlessly. The capability of biological immortality with no maximum lifespan makes T. Hydroids of the Pacific Coast of Canada and the United States. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History.
When times are tough or the jelly is starving, it re-absorbs its own tentacles and sinks to the seafloor, where it becomes a baby polyp once more and spouts off more jellies that will eventually mature into medusae. The larvae are small and free-swimming and develop into polyps which form colonies when they find a hard substrate to live on. Usually one bud grows per region. According to one of the best explanation videos about this unusual jelly on the internet, the capacity to replace brain cells, for example, may result in revolutionary therapies for diseases that humans have not yet been able to cure, like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. Manubrium with intensively red colour. Other organisms reproduce similarly but can die if the colonies are in danger.
There Is Only One Immortal Animal and Now We Know Why It Can Live Forever
Then the scientists sought genetic distinctions that allowed one species to be immortal while the other died when problems occurred. Cloning is the reason for jellyfish immortality T. Hydranths in material from New Zealand intensively orange-red. The medusae buds arise from short stems which may also be adnate for some distance after their origin. New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: 1. Many tentacles up to 120 , arising from closely spaced tentacle bulbs, these with adaxial ocelli. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research published February 2007.
Here is what actually happens. Mouth with four lips with nematocyst clusters along margin. Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology. Gonads on interradial walls of manubrium, in mature females with developing embryos and planulae. Four radial canals which continue through vacuolated gastrodermal masses to manubrium.
Jellyfish’s Secret to Immortality Revealed Through Rare DNA
Die Entstehung der Sexualzellen bei den Hydromedusen. Theoretically, this process can go on indefinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish biologically immortal, Turritopsis dohrnii are likely to succumb to predation or disease in the medusa stage without reverting to the polyp form. American Museum of Natural History. Aging theories have changed over time due to the modification of qualities associated with health markers or drivers of aging, such as cellular senescence or genomic instability, which decrease pluripotency and regeneration potentials. However, the study gives an idea of the process of aging.
They analyzed the same for a close relative of T. Furthermore, the researchers note that during the time when the jelly was metamorphosizing, some development-related genes reverted back to the state when the jelly was just a polyp — this kind of life cycle reversal was also absent from the T. However, there are still many mysteries surrounding the turritopsis dohrnii. Turritopsis dohrnii is the only form known to have developed the ability to return to a polyp state, by a specific transformation process that requires the presence of certain cell types tissue from both the jellyfish bell surface and the circulatory canal system. Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis des Baues und der Lebenserscheinungen dieser Gruppe. Turritopsis dohrnii also has a bottom-living polyp form, or hydroid, which consists of Until a recent genetic study, it was thought that T.
