#0055 Β· π Animal Chaos
This jellyfish can rewind its own life cycle and start over
Turritopsis dohrnii, nicknamed the "immortal jellyfish," can turn its mature cells back into a juvenile form.
Turritopsis dohrnii is a tiny jellyfish species that, in response to stress, injury, or aging, can undergo a process called transdifferentiation β its mature cells revert to an earlier developmental stage.
In practice, this means an adult jellyfish can "reset" itself back into a polyp β the stationary, juvenile form that normally develops into an adult jellyfish only once in a lifetime. In this species, the cycle can repeat over and over.
This doesn't make it literally indestructible β it can still be eaten by a predator or die of disease β but in theory, under the right conditions, it can avoid dying of old age indefinitely by rewinding its biological clock.
The bigger picture: this is the only known case of an animal biologically confirmed to reverse the aging process at the level of an entire organism, which makes it a major focus of research into cell regeneration.
Sources
- General knowledge / encyclopedic sources
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Krulicza Nora
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