The immortal jellyfish is the only species that can reverse the aging process to extend its life up to 10 times in two years.
Immortal jellyfish live in every ocean in the world. Photo: Asahi Shimbun
The immortal jellyfish gets its name from the fact that it can live biologically forever. These tiny, transparent creatures have been drifting in the seas since the dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago, according to Science Alert . When an immortal jellyfish ( Turritopsis dohrnii ) gets old or injured, it can evade death by regressing to a single-celled state. It does this by reabsorbing its tentacles and remaining dormant as an undifferentiated ball of cells on the seafloor.
From there, clusters of cells called polyps can then bud and form new adult forms, each smaller than a human fingernail when fully grown. Importantly, these adult buds are genetically identical to the polyps. The reversed life cycle allows the immortal jellyfish to survive the passage of time.
Scientists first described the immortal jellyfish in 1883, but it wasn’t until a century later that experts accidentally discovered its eternal life cycle in captivity. In the years since, research has shown that lab-bred populations of immortal jellyfish can revert to the polyp stage and restart life up to 10 times in two years.
The immortal jellyfish is the only known species that can rejuvenate after sexual reproduction. Although native to the Mediterranean, they are now found in oceans around the world. But experts still don’t fully understand how they live so long. In 2022, genetic research identified nearly 1,000 genes involved in aging and DNA repair. If scientists can figure out which genes are present or absent in the immortal jellyfish compared to its relatives, they may be able to figure out the cellular mechanism behind the jellyfish’s longevity.
In 2019, a team of scientists first compared the gene expression of cells from an immortal jellyfish polyp to one with tentacles and a torso. They found differences in how some cells behaved, suggesting that specialized cells were somehow reprogrammed, like a clock being reset. This doesn’t mean that immortal jellyfish never die. They can still die from injuries or starvation.
An Khang (According to Science Alert )
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