The Immortal Jellyfish…

April 3, 2008 | 11:07 PM

Turritopsis nutricula is a hydrozoan (jellyfish) with a life cycle in which it reverts back to the polyp stage after becoming sexually mature. It is the first case in which a metazoan (animal) is capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary stage (Piraino et al. 1996, p. 302). It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation. This cycle then repeats, rendering it effectively immortal. (Lifted straight from Wikipedia)

This is why I love marine science.  That right there is the coolest thing I’ve heard all day.  I’m watching a show on the Science Channel, and they said that the Turritopsis nutricula could be used in stem cell research, replacing the need for human/embryonic stem cell research.  I can get behind that.

For more information:

• Developmental Biology Online: Cheating Death: This article has diagrams
• Illustrations of cnidarians; Immortal jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula
• Turritopsis nutricula on Wikipedia

The show mentioned that Turritopsis nutricula breaks the rules of biology by turning itself back into a child- and we’re not sure why.  Regardless of what others may say, I’m left in awe of the Creator once again.

Posted in Environment, Life, Science