FARK.com: (7459084) For the God so loved the world that He sent Turritopsis dohrnii, that he who benefits from genetic studies of this immortal jellyfish shall not perish but have eternal life

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		For the God so loved the world that He sent Turritopsis dohrnii, that he who benefits from genetic studies of this immortal jellyfish shall not perish but have eternal life (nytimes.com)		8
		More: Interesting, genetics, gods, Turritopsis, eternal life, immortal jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii, Nietzsche, jellyfish

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4277 clicks; posted to Geek » on 29 Nov 2012 at 1:31 PM | Favorite | share:

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minnesotaboy		2012-11-29 02:09:44 PM

2 votes:

We now know, for instance, that the rejuvenation of Turritopsis dohrnii and some other members of the genus is caused by environmental stress or physical assault. We know that, during rejuvenation, it undergoes cellular transdifferentiation, an unusual process by which one type of cell is converted into another

Rings a bell...

upload.wikimedia.org

Ivo Shandor		2012-11-29 01:51:43 PM

2 votes:

Human immortality? It has happened, but it's not as pleasant as you might think. Just ask Henrietta Lacks.

Incog_Neeto		2012-11-29 06:01:43 PM

1 votes:

Sybarite: The downside of course is that to be immortal you have be a brainless gelatinous mass.

So that explains what reality TV is really trying to accomplish.

HeWhoHasNoName		2012-11-29 05:51:10 PM

1 votes:

I've heard of turritopsis nutricula doing this... is this something the entire turritopsis family exhibits?

Are there friggin' immortal jellyfish from the time of the dinosaurs floating around everywhere in the ocean? Because now I feel bad throwing dead jellyfish on the beach when I was a kid.

casual disregard		2012-11-29 05:02:40 PM

1 votes:

stonelotus: whistleridge: [s8.postimage.org image 611x404] ?

Sybarite: The downside of course is that to be immortal you have be a brainless gelatinous mass.

So...Rush is going to live forever then? How thoroughly depressing.

seriously. Geddy Lee already looks like a 90 year old gypsy woman. Peart and Liefson aren't exactly winning any beauty pageants lately either.

Silly joke aside about Rush, the jellyfish in question reverts to an infantile state and then resumes life anew. They don't just keep getting older, the fark of the crux is that they can actually become younger and then resume living.

They still die when they starve or are eaten. And certain individuals are unable to undergo the reversal due to certain physical characteristics.

Extant biological knowledge unequivocally states this is impossible. Yet here is a simple jellyfish doing it. Jellyfish DNA is not complicated, and jellyfish cellular structure is very simple. The idea is that we can induce the same process in humans. Then what? Hard to say.

stonelotus		2012-11-29 04:01:00 PM

1 votes:

whistleridge: [s8.postimage.org image 611x404] ?

Sybarite: The downside of course is that to be immortal you have be a brainless gelatinous mass.

So...Rush is going to live forever then? How thoroughly depressing.

seriously. Geddy Lee already looks like a 90 year old gypsy woman. Peart and Liefson aren't exactly winning any beauty pageants lately either.

Magorn		2012-11-29 01:42:23 PM

1 votes:

Sybarite: The downside of course is that to be immortal you have be a brainless gelatinous mass.

Well that, and the whole "reverse aging" thing, the trip back trhough the birth canal would SUCK