Immortal Jellies: Living Time Machines
It's confession time- I may or may not have a slight obsession for Cnidaria. Their bells pulsate, like little, fluttering heartbeats. Their bioluminescence is other-worldly, capturing one's soul forever. Their tentacles (or cilia) are symbols of grace, like strands of silky hair. Yet they can be so deadly- turning on you when you least expect it. Their venom can paralyze you, kill even, but yet they play innocent. Looking sweet and majestic until BAM- you're stung. I could go on like that, but today we're focusing on one jelly in particular. A Cnidarian who defies the rules of death itself- the immortal jellyfish.
No, they're not really immortal. If something lives, it will most definitely die, and the laws of nature are pretty strict about that. But they can do something others can't, that is, turn back time.
Again, not literally. The Turritopsis dohrnii decided that rather than growing weaker as they aged, they could turn back into younglings and live life again! The normal animals' lifestyle goes like this- Be born, go through childhood, claim your place in the world by trying to stay alive, mate, and then die. This is fine, thought the jellies, but we don't like that bit at the end about death. And so they evolved to defy death.
At first, their lives are pretty normal- at least for a jellyfish. After they hatch from the egg, they are called planula. Planulae look like little ciliated blobs. Eventually, they settle onto the sea floor, where they form colonies. This is the polyp stage, where they look like little, transparent anemones. Basically, they hook themselves down to a surface like a rock, and feed on anything that drifts by. Put a bunch of polyps together and you get a hydroid.
Hydroids are essentially budding polyps. What do they bud? Adult jellyfish, of course! Or at least the beginnings of one. These young jellies set off to conquer the world, until they mate and produce more offspring. As mentioned before, most creatures die after this. The T.dohrnii's instead undergo the most fascinating transformation- back into the polyp stage, to live life to the fullest all over again. This occurs due to some special tissues in the jellyfish, and can be triggered by many things. Old age, changes in water condition and physical distress are some.
There are actually three different species of jellyfish people thought could be immortal: T.nutricula, T.rubra, and T.dohrnii. At first, T.nutricula was believed to be the immortal one, but then intense scientific research proved it was actually the T.dohrnii. The other two have not shown any signs of biological immortality as of now.
As fun as it may seem, the life of an immortal jelly isn't easy. You're probably thinking, What could possibly go wrong? I would love to be a jellyfish that lives forever! But immortality doesn't save them from threats like getting eaten or disease. Considering the planula and young adults live in plankton swarms, they get eaten a lot.
As far as survival mechanisms go, though, this one seems the best to me. I don't think it would work ou for humans though! Imagine having to go through things like school and job interviews all over again! It exhausting to think about.
As for me, I'm fine with my one life. As long as I use it wisely and live it to the wildest it could possibly be, I'm satisfied.
Image credits: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zooplankton1_300.jpg
No, they're not really immortal. If something lives, it will most definitely die, and the laws of nature are pretty strict about that. But they can do something others can't, that is, turn back time.
Again, not literally. The Turritopsis dohrnii decided that rather than growing weaker as they aged, they could turn back into younglings and live life again! The normal animals' lifestyle goes like this- Be born, go through childhood, claim your place in the world by trying to stay alive, mate, and then die. This is fine, thought the jellies, but we don't like that bit at the end about death. And so they evolved to defy death.
At first, their lives are pretty normal- at least for a jellyfish. After they hatch from the egg, they are called planula. Planulae look like little ciliated blobs. Eventually, they settle onto the sea floor, where they form colonies. This is the polyp stage, where they look like little, transparent anemones. Basically, they hook themselves down to a surface like a rock, and feed on anything that drifts by. Put a bunch of polyps together and you get a hydroid.
Hydroids are essentially budding polyps. What do they bud? Adult jellyfish, of course! Or at least the beginnings of one. These young jellies set off to conquer the world, until they mate and produce more offspring. As mentioned before, most creatures die after this. The T.dohrnii's instead undergo the most fascinating transformation- back into the polyp stage, to live life to the fullest all over again. This occurs due to some special tissues in the jellyfish, and can be triggered by many things. Old age, changes in water condition and physical distress are some.
There are actually three different species of jellyfish people thought could be immortal: T.nutricula, T.rubra, and T.dohrnii. At first, T.nutricula was believed to be the immortal one, but then intense scientific research proved it was actually the T.dohrnii. The other two have not shown any signs of biological immortality as of now.
As fun as it may seem, the life of an immortal jelly isn't easy. You're probably thinking, What could possibly go wrong? I would love to be a jellyfish that lives forever! But immortality doesn't save them from threats like getting eaten or disease. Considering the planula and young adults live in plankton swarms, they get eaten a lot.
As far as survival mechanisms go, though, this one seems the best to me. I don't think it would work ou for humans though! Imagine having to go through things like school and job interviews all over again! It exhausting to think about.
As for me, I'm fine with my one life. As long as I use it wisely and live it to the wildest it could possibly be, I'm satisfied.
Image credits: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zooplankton1_300.jpg
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