Gale
06-21-2010, 06:50 AM
This was on Yahoo New, fascinating! This jellyfish can change damaged cells back to young cells or into egg cells. There are such amazing things on this blue-green marble.
A species of jellyfish has evolved the potential for immortality - and they're starting to spread.
The species turritopsis nutricula is able to transform itself from its mature state back into a polyp (immature jellyfish) and then back again... The species, which is only 4-5 mm in diameter, performs this miraculous feat using a process known as transdifferentiation, in which one type of cell transforms into another. While this sounds a lot like what happens in stem cells, the process is distinct.
The planet's only immortal animal is spreading fast (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/yahoocanada/100617/canada/the_planet_s_only_immortal_animal_is_spreading_fas t)
a muscle cell could become a nerve cell - even an egg. The jellyfish then reproduces asexually and breed hundreds of jellyfish that are identical to the original adult. This process can be repeated - again and again, but only as an emergency measure...This tiny creature, the size of a human pinky nail when fully developed, was first discovered in 1883. However, it wasn't until the 1990s that this unique ability to transform back into younger self once it has become sexually mature and has mated was uncovered. Many marine biologists and geneticists are now studying the jellyfish in order to determine how it is able to reverse its aging process.
"Immortal" jellyfish invading the world's oceans (http://www.worldhealth.net/news/jellyfish_that_can_age_backwards_are_inv/)
A species of jellyfish has evolved the potential for immortality - and they're starting to spread.
The species turritopsis nutricula is able to transform itself from its mature state back into a polyp (immature jellyfish) and then back again... The species, which is only 4-5 mm in diameter, performs this miraculous feat using a process known as transdifferentiation, in which one type of cell transforms into another. While this sounds a lot like what happens in stem cells, the process is distinct.
The planet's only immortal animal is spreading fast (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/yahoocanada/100617/canada/the_planet_s_only_immortal_animal_is_spreading_fas t)
a muscle cell could become a nerve cell - even an egg. The jellyfish then reproduces asexually and breed hundreds of jellyfish that are identical to the original adult. This process can be repeated - again and again, but only as an emergency measure...This tiny creature, the size of a human pinky nail when fully developed, was first discovered in 1883. However, it wasn't until the 1990s that this unique ability to transform back into younger self once it has become sexually mature and has mated was uncovered. Many marine biologists and geneticists are now studying the jellyfish in order to determine how it is able to reverse its aging process.
"Immortal" jellyfish invading the world's oceans (http://www.worldhealth.net/news/jellyfish_that_can_age_backwards_are_inv/)