The Immortal Jellyfish: Could Its Biological Immortality Hold the Key to Human Longevity?

A Special Species that Avoids Aging

Imagine, a life-being which could, at the face of danger or when it feels that its life is almost over, just click on ‘restart’ button, and be back to its earliest state. Meet Turritopsis dohrnii, or the” immortal jellyfish”, minuscule jellyfish species. This jellyfish is not only a record holder for indefinitely longevity, but also equipped with a hidden mechanism to beat the clock. But if the biological secrets of this little creature could be unlocked, would it not offer a much longer and healthier human life? It’s time to discover more about this species and how its biology could help human beings to additionally prolong their lives.

What Makes This Specific Jellyfish Immortal?

A Marvel of Regeneration

Turritopsis dohrnii is the only organism in the universe which has the power to reverse its own life cycle. Transdifferentiation is the door that the “immortal jellyfish” knocks for help when its stressed, injured, or simply growing old. Turritopsis dohrnii undergoes this process called “transdifferentiation” and transformes back into a tiny version of itself- just like a butterfly turning back to a caterpillar. By doing this marvelous biological thing, it can commence over again and again, never to experience aging in a traditional form. Remarkable, isn’t it?

The normal Jellyfish life cycle involves fertilization of the egg; formation of a larva; settlement of the larva on a substrate to form a polyp. Finally, it metamorphoses to an adult form of the jellyfish Polyps. However, Turritopsis dohrnii is unique among the species since it can revert the process and turn the fully mature cell into a younger version. Thus we can say that this immortal jellyfish winds back in time, making itself an intriguing exception in the animal kingdom.

The Science Behind Transdifferentiation: How Does It Work?

A Closer Look at Cellular Alchemy

Now, let’s take a closer look at what occurs in the cellular level. Transdifferentiation in general is the process of changing one form of tissue into another and has only been observed in the immortal jellyfish. Finally, in contrast to most other animals, of which cells’ specializations are fixed and a muscle cell, for example, cannot become a nerve cell, cells of Turritopsis dohrnii are capable of morphing into any type of cell needed to restart its own life cycle.

Just think about it, what if the same could be done to our cells – a heart cell that got damaged could turn into a fresh, healthy one, a neuron that has been working for years and eventually worn-out, could rejuvenate itself? This led the scientists to hypothesize that understanding this jellyfish might help researchers learn more about cellular plasticity and regeneration. Even though our cells are more advanced than that of a jellyfish, but the possibilities are mind blowing.

Over the recent past, research has been conducted on this ability in the belief that it could one day lead to new possibilities for the treatment of diseases. If one could only control that conversion process, then practically anything could be done: persons could regenerate damaged organs, cure diseases that progress from no known cause, combat the process of aging, and much more.

While people may one day be able to “hack” their bodies and technology to the place that biological immortality is achievable, this process is currently a long way from being mainstream.

“Living far beyond the natural human life span could present significant psychological challenges, as life’s meaning often derives from its limitations.” — Smart Wellness​

Can We-Humans Achieve Biological Immortality

Some of The Things That People Can Learn from the “Immortal” of the Nature

The immortal jellyfish has caused scientists all over the world to reconsider the problem if aging is concern. Supposing we could do the same for human biology? As a result, this question has led to new scientific advancements in the subject of regenerative medicine and aging and whether it is possible to mimic, let alone replicate, some of the characteristics of the jellyfish.

Indeed, research on stem cell and cellular therapy are already putting down foundations for such a development. For example, the present methods of tissue regeneration and, in the future, regrowing organs using stem cells. But it is much more complex in human cells and one has to be very careful, because there is a chance for such side effects as mutation or, even, carcinoma – a big challenge for scientists.

Ethical and Environmental Concerns Related to Human Longevity

The Price of Living Forever

But even to suggest that “aging” is something that can be cured – even if we could – should we? Could extending human life cost us things we can’t foresee? It might sound like something out of a science fiction movie, which makes it super exciting, but trying to make ourselves become as immortal as the jellyfish would certainly raise plenty of moral and environmental issues. For example, if people could live 200 years or 300 years, then what? What would happen to our planet if there were more people, if they consumed more resources, and built more structures?

Critics of longevity research and other radical life-prolongation techniques are concerned that the alteration of the human lifespan poses potential socio-economic dangers, including social inequality and overexploitation of resources. Some people state that the true worth is associated not with existence in the far future but with the curation of aging. Thus, one realizes that by eliminating aging we are essentially eradicating diseases that accompany elderly age, nonetheless, everyone will not have to live forever.

The immortal jellyfish presents us with an intriguing puzzle: it can live continuously but only if it reinvents itself from scratch. It may be the human longevity research will help us turn our attention toward the quality of life rather than its duration.

The Future of Longevity Research: A Step Closer to “Forever”?

What Scenarios Are Possible For Science and Humanity?

That long tricky process has been discovered as well as other biological processes in the last few years and thus the real possibility of changing different aspects of aging, slowing it down or even reversing it is within reach due to the improved understanding of aging. Anti-aging molecules to stem cell therapies, the science of growing old slowly is getting closer with each passing day. Based on the exceptional biology of the immortal jellyfish, future such strategies will likely remain the case for future, a breach that is likely to take years before it is established as one of the standard medical practices.

Today, researchers are already trying out genetic modification and tissue engineering technologies based on natural concepts like CRISPR and stem cell treatment. Though the possibility of biological immortality still seems slightly science-fictional, the concept of human healthspan lengthening is most definitely within the realm of possibility and has the potential to become firmly within our grasp within the not-too-distant future.

Final Thoughts: Can We Really “Hack” Aging?

Finally, Turritopsis dohrnii presents a wonderful case of how nature solves our problems; this is a hint of what can be done if one could embark on how to rebuild a cell. Its story invites us to consider: if an invertebrate can cheat death, could not humans do so as well? Currently, the behaviors and capabilities of the immortal jellyfish remain an enigma and a wonderful challenge for the study of human’s desire to live longer. As usual, the only thing that only the future will tell us is whether humanity will be able to turn these concepts into alternatives that are feasible—or like the jellyfish, must devise a mechanism to reset existence.