The immortal jellyfish: Nature’s secret to eternal life
Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as the immortal jellyfish, is a species of small, biologically immortal jellyfish found worldwide in temperate to tropic waters.
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It is one of the few known cases of animals capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary individual.
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When sexually mature, they have been known to prey on other jellyfish species at a rapid pace.
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If the T. dohrnii jellyfish is exposed to environmental stress, physical assault, or is sick or old, it can revert to the polyp stage, forming a new polyp colony.
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It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation, which alters the differentiated state of the cells and transforms them into new types of cells.
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Theoretically, this process can go on indefinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish biologically immortal, although in practice individuals can still die.
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The capability of biological immortality with no maximum lifespan makes T. dohrnii an important target of basic biological aging and pharmaceutical research.