Secret to ‘immortal’ jellyfish that can REVERSE its age could be unlocked after scientists sequence its DNA for 1st time
A SPECIES of jellyfish that can reverse its aging has had its genetic code examined by researchers.
A type of jellyfish found in the Pacific can restart its biological life.
"We've known about this species being able to do a little evolutionary trickery for maybe 15-20 years," director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography Monty Graham told .
Most jellyfish start out as a larva floating in the ocean before planting itself in on coastal reefs to grow, before eventually separating from the ground as a mature jellyfish.
The "immortal jellyfish" follows the same process - but even after maturity, this special jellyfish can contort itself into a cyst, reattach to the ocean floor, and start the process over again.
The jellyfish will restart its lifecycle when sick, wounded, or aging out of its current body.
Read More Strange Animals
A study published in in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences profiled the jellyfish's genetic sequence.
The study authors also analyzed samples of a jellyfish that is closely related to the immortal jellyfish, but cannot start its life cycle over.
The comparison allowed the researchers to isolate which genes enable immortality.
"We have identified variants and expansions of genes associated with replication, DNA repair, telomere maintenance, redox environment, stem cell population, and intercellular communication," the explained.
Most read in Tech
Telomeres are the caps of DNA strands that are partially snipped when cells replicated and signs of aging start to set in when telomeres are worn down.
The T. dohrnii is not immune to death by other causes, like predators or starvation.
The fully mature jellyfish is just four-and-a-half millimeters across - smaller than the eraser on a pencil.
It has no brain - when it restarts its lifecycle, it does not duplicate a consciousness, as would be the case if T. dohrnii's immortal abilities could somehow be replicated in a human.
Graham admitted that while it makes for interesting science, the discovery isn't yet applicable to anti-aging products.
"We can't look at it as, hey, we are going to harvest these jellyfish and turn it into a skin cream," Graham said.