Have you ever wanted to rediscover the carefreeness of your childhood? It’s impossible, obviously. At least for us humans. Because researchers from the University of Bergen (Norway) have discovered an animal that is capable of it. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesthey detail how they observed, completely by chance, a sea nut (Mnemiopsis leidyi) – a kind of ctenophorectenophorea marine invertebrate considered plankton and cousin of jellyfish – suddenly losing its plump gelatinous lobes characteristic of adulthood to revert to the state of larvaelarvae.
A marine animal with exceptional powers
Studies had already shown extraordinary abilities in this group of animals. Their individuals can, for example, merge to survive in the event of serious injury. To survive periods of famine, the seanut can also reduce its size. And now researchers have shown that it is also capable of going back in time to return to a larval form. Always in response to a stressstresswhen food runs out and even more so when they are injured.
Did you know?
The seanut is not the only one that can go back in time. The one that scientists call the immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) is also capable of this.
Today, the seanut appears on the “Blacklist of invasive species in the marine environment” of the Mediterranean of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCNIUCN). And scientists believe this extraordinary power of backtracking could be behind its highly invasive spread more widely in the world’s waters.
Seanut to better understand aging
Especially since when Mnemiopsis leidyi returns to its larval state, it does so without degradation of its cells. In fashion “time travel”. This allows him, as soon as his living conditions improve, to return to his adulthood.
Scientists therefore intend to study it more closely, in the hope of better understanding the molecular mechanisms at the origin of the phenomenon. They also plan to search for other species capable of rejuvenation. According to them, in fact, this somewhat crazy power could be more widely distributed in the animal kingdom than previously thought.
