WOULD you want to return to your youth if possible – perhaps to board a few more cruises? A team of scientists in Spain has moved closer to unlocking the secrets of the ‘immortal jellyfish’ – and possibly also solve some of the problematic secrets of human aging. Authors of...
WOULD you want to return to your youth if possible – perhaps to board a few more cruises?
A team of scientists in Spain has moved closer to unlocking the secrets of the ‘immortal jellyfish’ – and possibly also solve some of the problematic secrets of human aging.
Authors of a new study hope the genome mapping of the jellyfish, known for its ability to rebirth itself, might lead to discoveries relevant to improving the human life expectancy.
The jellyfish can turn its biological clock backward and revert to a clump of juvenile cells – even after sexual reproduction.
Once back in its juvenile state, the jellyfish can also reproduce asexually by cloning polyps of itself, giving it two ways to propagate its genetic material.
In a study published Tue in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the authors said they hoped genome mapping might lead to relevant discoveries about life expectancy – however we shouldn’t expect to be granted eternal life any time soon.
“It’s a mistake to think we will have immortality like this jellyfish, because we are not jellyfish,” the authors astutely pointed out.
“It’s possible something in the immortal jellyfish’s evolutionary trick can be used to better understand the pathologies of aging,” they sagely added.
