Community | March 20, 2010 | 8 comments

WORLDS ONLY IMMORTAL ANIMAL.....

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The turritopsis nutricula species of jellyfish may be the only animal in the world to have truly discovered the fountain of youth.

Since it is capable of cycling from a mature adult stage to an immature polyp stage and back again, there may be no natural limit to its life span. Scientists say the hydrozoan jellyfish is the only known animal that can repeatedly turn back the hands of time and revert to its polyp state (its first stage of life).

The key lies in a process called transdifferentiation, where one type of cell is transformed into another type of cell. Some animals can undergo limited transdifferentiation and regenerate organs, such as salamanders, which can regrow limbs. Turritopsi nutricula, on the other hand, can regenerate its entire body over and over again. Researchers are studying the jellyfish to discover how it is able to reverse its aging process.

Because they are able to bypass death, the number of individuals is spiking. They're now found in oceans around the globe rather than just in their native Caribbean waters. "We are looking at a worldwide silent invasion," says Dr. Maria Miglietta of the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute.
  1. groups:
    Community,   Green,   Veganism
  2. tags:
    Jellyfish,  immortality,  Transdifferentiation,  Turritopsis Nutricula Species,  1 more
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8 comments // WORLDS ONLY IMMORTAL ANIMAL.....

  • dalistuff
  • CalPal
    • 0
      CalPal  

    • Link?

      As much as the idea of immortality is fascinating, and to actually know there is an "immortal" animal amongst us is amazing in itself, do I really want to live forever?

      I mean, life is crappy enough with death... is immortality something people really want, especially in more unfortunate areas of the world?

      Besides, it's hard enough feeding our current populations without having to worry about people living forever.

    • 1 year ago
  • PressCore
    • +2
      PressCore  
    • CalPal:

      " Is immortality something people want ? " Beyond the rhetorical tone
      of your question, for most, probably not. But for the lucky few, you bet
      your life they do want to live (virtualy) forever. I sure do. And since I
      absolutely know I'll eventualy be rich beyond my wildest dreams, I know
      that I can. The fear of dying per se would be enough for many to claim
      they want to live forever, (meaning indefinitely), but they realy wouldn't be
      likely to accomplish that. If you've found your true love in this world you
      certainly wouldn't. Statistics show that very many happily maried mates die
      within 1 year of another. You have to be pretty damned adaptable to be
      able to survive long enough to have an extremely long lifespan. Most who
      claim they want to live forever are already so bored with life they wouldn't
      even know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. But for
      those who live to see the wonder of nature revealed in all of God's creations,
      and have cultivated enough virtue to be patient enough to have the faith
      needed to wait to see it...A rare as those people must be, they could tell
      you it would take 10 lifetimes to learn & experience all they want. Those
      rare types have an insatiable hunger & thirst for life per se. Where there's
      a will, there's a way.

    • 1 year ago
  • PressCore
    • +2
      PressCore  

    • Good article. You should forward it to Dr. Mitzio Kaku, the narrator
      for the Science channel. He and a researcher were discussing how
      to extend the longevity of humans in the episode Lifetime, one of
      their 4 Documentary miniseries episodes on Time. Yeasts are
      biologicaly classified as a single celled fungus, yet they have amazing
      properties. They have all the chemical components of humans, so
      they qualify as superfoods. Like jellyfish they also never die because
      they contain no limiting gene in their cellular code as humans do.
      Ie. as a complex life form, humans are limited in their natural longevity
      because, eventualy as they progress into extreme old age, the limiting
      gene will trigger a comprehensive organ failure. The kidneys, liver,
      pancreas, then heart will shut down, and a person will die of natural
      causes normaly attributable to old age. But very old yeasts are often
      reintroduced to very young yeasts to have a mutualy synergistic effect
      on both. The Germans called this process "krausening" when they
      make champagne. And the results are very dramatic in what they produce.

      The Science researchers speculated that if human cells could be
      geneticaly engineered to subtract the limiting gene, the same thing
      would happen to humans as with yeasts:That like the Ever Ready bunny,
      they would just keep going and going and going. It's the telomeres
      on the ends of cellular chromosome chains that get ripped apart
      then reassembled every time a cell divides to replicate itself. The
      telomeres get shorter over time because of the effects of free radical
      damage to them naturaly as the product of breathing oxygen to live.
      But the aging process has plasticity, and can be reversed. Since the
      1950s, Jack LaLane has advocated anti oxident fruit/vegetable juices
      in his gym. He still advertises his juicerator today. The anti oxident
      oil and water soluable vitamins, time dilate the aging process. So the
      Science channel researchers speculated that the human life span can
      be extended to a natural lifespan of 150 years by the end of the 21st century..

    • 1 year ago
  • Elligirl
  • Chapisbored
  • oceanbacon
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