Strange creature that cheats death discovered: it could hold the secret of immortality
https://en.as.com/latest_news/strange-creature-that-cheats-death-discovered-it-could-hold-the-secret-of-immortality-n/
Strange creature that cheats death discovered: it could hold the secret of immortality
https://en.as.com/latest_news/strange-creature-that-cheats-death-discovered-it-could-hold-the-secret-of-immortality-n/
14 Comments
> A new international study has revealed that the Mnemiopsis leidyi, more commonly known as the warty comb jelly, is capable of **reversing its life cycle**, returning from adulthood to a juvenile state when injured or starved. Researchers believe this may be one of nature’s rarest survival hacks—one that could one day help us better understand human aging, regeneration, or even extend life itself.
> To observe this bizarre behavior, the team placed 65 adult comb jellies in tanks without food for over two weeks. The conditions were harsh, but the results were stunning. Rather than simply deteriorating, 13 of the jellies began to shrink and morph back into their larval form—essentially rebooting their lives.
> In the second part of the experiment, scientists surgically removed the lobes—gelatinous structures crucial to the jelly’s body shape—from 15 adult comb jellies to simulate traumatic injury. The outcome shocked researchers: six of the jellies **fully regenerated in just 15 days.**
> The takeaway? **The more severe the damage, the faster the regeneration.**
> This isn’t the first sea creature to puzzle scientists with its ability to cheat death. The Turritopsis dohrnii, better known as the immortal jellyfish, has famously been studied for its natural ability to revert to its juvenile polyp stage—**again and again.**
> **But there’s a key difference:** while Turritopsis dohrnii resets its life cycle as a natural part of its aging process, the warty comb jelly only seems to undergo its life-reversing transformation in response to extreme trauma or starvation.
Here’s a better question: why would you wanna live forever? The whole point of life and what makes it exciting is your finite amount of time here.
Who needs immortality and why in this shithole of world?
Until we rework capitalism this is a horrible idea and not something we should be pursuing
I suspect this metamorphosis is less about a creature reviving itself as it is autonomous metabolic mechanisms killing one version of the creature to reconstitute another individual using the same biomass. Sure, genetically, the two are likely to be the same, but even if this process could be replicated in humans, there’s no way it would preserve a life.
And even that isn’t taking into consideration the overhead cost of biological systems that enable themselves to gracefully terminate and regrow. There is no way a human brain is going to be doing that.
That said, there could be useful insights into certain organ regeneration. Simple structures might be made easier to heal or replace. I’m sure this is a very interesting project for the researchers.
I’d much rather be a human with a finite life than an immortal jellyfish
even if the science works out a way to be able to utilise it on humans, I can’t see any future where the product would be available to anyone who isn’t part of the 1%ers.. I can see it now, immortal dictators taking over the world.
Did you ever hear the tragedy of Mnemiopsis Leidy the comb jelly?
Death is the great equaliser, let’s keep it that way.
We’ve known about this creature for decades, is this a fake AI article again??
pretty sure they “discovered” immortal jellyfishes ages ago.
this seems like a clickbait headline.
I don’t know what’s worse, the article, or the people on r/Futurology spazzing out over something that has been known for decades.
We’ve known about similar species that do the same things forever… it’s literally called the immortal jellyfish
Man this great news…imagine Trump living to 200…Elon to 300…maybe we can get a few hundred out of Putin too!