00:00Could this creature hold the key to living forever?
00:06This is the Turritopsis dhorny, or what is more often called the immortal jellyfish.
00:11They've been floating around the ocean for millions of years, and when they begin to grow old or they get hurt, they have a cool little trick.
00:17They reabsorb their tentacles and float down to the bottom of the sea, where they effectively become a baby jellyfish once again, returning to their polyp stage.
00:25Once there, they bud and produce new adult versions of themselves.
00:28Exact recreations of their previous adult form.
00:31It's a wild life cycle, and experts say it's the only creature on the entire planet that rejuvenates in this way after reproducing.
00:38But how does it work?
00:39Well, scientists are trying to figure that out, and they're already on the trail.
00:43Researchers studying the immortal jellyfish's genome have already identified at least a thousand of its genes related to DNA repair and aging.
00:51And another study back in 2019 discovered that the adult and polyp versions of the jellyfish had some cells which, while the same,
00:58function differently, which they said at the time could mean that some of their cells undergo a reprogramming of structural and functional commitment and gene expression.
01:07Or that they are sort of turned back and reset, just like a clock.
Comments