Immortal jellyfish

Immortality as a concept is one that fascinates everyone and stands elusive for human beings and almost every other living organism. However, some very...

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Only one animal is known to have this ability: a species of jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii, first discovered in the 1880s. Now, scientists in Spain have ...

“We can’t look at it as, hey, we are going to harvest these jellyfish and turn it into a skin cream,” said Graham, who was not involved in the study, Looking at the two medusas, the researchers found that the immortal one had mutations that enabled it to limit cell division and prevent telomeres (the protective caps over the chromosomes) from breaking down. In a process that resembles immorality, the new polyp colony eventually blossoms and releases medusae that are identical to the adult. They thought that the jellyfish would have to mature before producing larvae, but they found many newly settled polyps. Only one animal is known to have this ability: a species of jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii, first discovered in the 1880s. [harsh environments](https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/animals-ecology/tardigrades-extremophile-05354/), but quite another to just hit the reset button when facing threats and go on living forever.

A team of researchers at Universidad de Oviedo in Spain reports findings that could explain how the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii is able to live, ...

[polyps](https://phys.org/tags/polyps/). Next, they repeatedly clone themselves as a means of forming a [colony](https://phys.org/tags/colony/). One of the medusas can morph into a cyst, similar to its original polyp, and stick itself to the [bottom of the sea](https://phys.org/tags/bottom+of+the+sea/) in a new location and restart the whole cycle. Once they had the whole genome, they did the same for a very close relative of T. At some point, they attach themselves to the seabed and shortly thereafter begin to sprout as A team of researchers at Universidad de Oviedo in Spain reports findings that could explain how the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii is able to live, at least in theory, forever.

Scientist Shin Kubota shows a container with several immortal jellyfishes (Turritopsis dohrnii) he is. The T. dohrnii can reverse its aging process even after ...

In a bid to discover how the T. They said the T. In one of these stages, the jellyfish attach to the seafloor as a polyp — basically a stalk of tissue — and attempt to stay alive. However, the T. After this stage, the typical jellyfish would eventually die. dohrnii, dubbed the immortal jellyfish, goes through a life cycle just like other species of jellyfish.

T. dohrnii is the only species that is biologically immortal, and now scientists have peered into its DNA to find out what lets it live forever.

The species also had more copies of genes governing DNA repair, and those that govern telomerase, which are enzymes that replenish the telomeres on DNA that shorten with age. Specifically, they compared "genes involved in aging and DNA repair, together with the transcriptome [mRNA] analysis of life cycle reversal (LCR) of T. dohrnii may have more efficient replicative mechanisms and repair systems" than other species, the authors write. Instead, they become a "cyst" that turns back into a polyp and restarts the whole process, churning out more clones. Every member of the species is an identical clone, and starts life as a polyp that becomes a mature organism called a medusa. It would be like if a person got old and turned back into a fetus, or a chicken into an egg.

Authors of a new study hope the genome mapping of a jellyfish known for its ability to rebirth itself could prevent human aging.

We need to look at many of them and how they synergize," he added. "If we want to look for an extension of healthspan, we cannot just focus on one pathway. But it’s possible something in the immortal jellyfish’s evolutionary trick can be used to better understand the pathologies of aging," Pascual-Torner said. It also had two times the number of genes linked to DNA repair and protection. The study contained an important message about extending an organism's health span, or healthy years, according to Dr. More specifically, medusae, or adult jellyfish, reverse their genetic clock to become larval once more when they perceive a threat from changing environmental conditions.

Researchers in Spain have mapped the genome of the immortal jellyfish, which can repeatedly change from adult back to a juvenile state to survive.

[Some other jellyfish](https://www.bbcearth.com/news/the-jellyfish-that-never-dies) have the ability to regenerate themselves, but not after sexual reproduction, as the immortal jellyfish can. In a process called transdifferentiation, the polyp cells regenerate into new jellyfish. [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/scientists-find-clues-what-makes-immortal-jellyfish-immortal-2022-08-29/). [Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day](https://profile.usatoday.com/newsletters/everyones-talking/) [What to know about the creators of it and more](https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2022/08/28/when-was-internet-created-who-invented-it/10268999002/) [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2118763119#fig01),