Here is an amazing creature! Turritopsis nutricula is a hydrozoan, a jelly. They aren’t called jellyfish anymore, by the way. Now they are called jellies. Nom! Only I don’t want to eat this one on toast, I want scientists to study it. Why? Well, it’s basically immortal.
After it reaches sexual maturity, it can go through a process of transdifferentiation and transform mature cells back to young cells (polyps). Here’s one way to explain it:
Cell transdifferentiation is when the jellyfish “alters the differentiated state of the cell and transforms it into a new cell. In this process the medusa of the immortal jellyfish is transformed into the polyps of a new polyp colony. First, the umbrella reverts itself and then the tentacles and mesoglea get resorbed. The reverted medusa then attaches itself to the substrate by the end that had been at the opposite end of the umbrella and starts giving rise to new polyps to form the new colony. Theoretically, this process can go on infinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish biologically immortal. (Wikipedia)
This little creature is about 4.5 mm in diameter (.18 inches). The red in the center is its large stomach. Young jellies have about 8 tentacles while adults have 80-90 tentacles. The picture shown below is actually a Turritopsis rubra from New Zealand which is closely related. They are very similar, but it’s not known if T. rubra can transform back into polyps.
The jelly originated in the Carribbean but now it’s found all over the world in temperate to tropical oceans. Because it’s basically immortal (if it doesn’t succumb to predation, etc), the numbers are spiking. They think it’s spreading by ships discharging ballast water in ports.
A bit more about their immortality: Read the rest of this entry »
Duelity provides a different take on creation versus evolution. With a slightly humorous, and definitely ironic reversal of roles. The creation story is told in a very scientific manner, while the big bang and evolution story is told in a poetic religious manner.
