By Soyoung Kim
Lots of people may have once dreamed about having eternal life, and some scientists are actually close to figuring out nature’s anti-aging secrets. Surprisingly, the earth already has one species that lives forever. But how?
This organism that never dies is called Turritopsis nutricula. It can be as small as 5 millimeters, and is found in the Carribean Sea. A special enzyme, Telomerase, helps certain organisms like the Turritopsis nutricula to asexually reproduce—a skill common to starfish, jellyfish, etc. Telomerase also protects the “telomere” located on the edge of a chromosome.
The protection is needed because as a cell divides, its telomere get shorter. When they finally cannot become any shorter, this is a symptom of “cell senility,” which is the same thing that makes human beings get old and have wrinkles. Organisms experience different aging processes due to the difference in the length of their telomere. The Telomerase enzyme usually prevents the chromosome from getting shorter. Normal jellyfishes end up dying even though they have telomerase. However, the Turritopsis nutricula can transfer to the form of a polyp which is the embryo state after reproduction.
We know that if a lizard’s tail is torn off, the tail grows back. It is the heteromorphy division that allows this to happen. Heteromorphy division enables a cell to change into a new form of cell. The Turritopsis nutricula can activate heteromorphy division for its entire body, while a lizard can only do this for its tail. We are not sure how many of them exist, but they can be found almost anywhere in tropical seas.
