Immortal jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula

Recently, scientists interested in jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula. What could attract such a close attention of specialists, let alone genetics, such a simple being? And it's all about the next discovery. Some scientist from Italy, Fernando Boero (especially for his personal research) planted in the aquarium jellyfish of this species. Earlier, they thoroughly studied, probably because of their too modest size (5 mm) and absolutely unprepossessing appearance. For some reason, the scientist had to postpone the experiments, and he safely forgot about his pythomits. I remembered when the aquarium was already dry, and the inhabitants seemed to have already died. Boero decided to clean the aquarium from them and fill it with the following guinea-pigs, but with curiosity peculiar to him decided to study already dried jellyfish.

What was his surprise when it was discovered that they did not die, but became larvae. He again filled the aquarium with water. After a while, half-dried larvae became polyps, from which new jellyfish later budded. So it turned out that the inconspicuous Turritopsis nutricula is an immortal jellyfish that performs seemingly impossible. She independently controls her genes and can "move back", ie, she returns to the initial stage of development and begins to live anew. In other words, the immortal jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula can not die due to old age. She dies only if someone ate or tore it apart.

Today scientists believe that the tiny immortal jellyfish is the only terrestrial organism that can independently rejuvenate and regenerate. And this cycle it will repeat countless times. The immortal jellyfish Turritopsis belongs to the genus Hydroid, whose representatives live in the temperate and tropical seas. This species includes marine colonial coelenterates, namely polyps, colonies of which consist of several hundred individuals. They - like bushes, immovable and securely attached to the substrate. Although there are also singles. In the colony, the intestinal cavity of an individual polyp is connected to a common polypal cavity passing through the colony. In other words, they are all united by a "common gut", along which the distribution of all food is distributed.

The immortal jellyfish has a domed umbrella shape, along its edge there is a whisk of tentacles. And the number of tentacles increases with age: the newly jellyfish jellyfish will have no more than 8, and in the future the number will increase to 90 pieces. The jellyfish has two stages of development: the first is the polyp, the second is the jellyfish itself. As the last, it can exist from several hours to several months, and then again returns to the first stage, repeating this cycle endlessly.

The immortal jellyfish comes from the Caribbean, but today it already occurs in other geographical areas. This was due to the fact that the Turritopsis nutricula multiplied greatly. Some believe that such an increase in numbers can lead to a violation in the world ocean of equilibrium. But Maria Miglietta (doctor of the Institute of Tropical Studies) is sure that there is no need to worry about filling all the reservoirs of this species with hydroids. Turritopsis nutricula has too many predator enemies, who are engaged in the extermination of their offspring. Although, probably, this is not enough, since the number of immortal jellyfish is increasing every year.