Turritopsis Nutricula – A Living Fountain of Youth
According to an account written by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo in General and Natural History of the Indies (1535) Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León (1474-1521), the first governor of Puerto Rico (then called Boriquien) attempted to discover the fountain of youth, a mystical spring that restored youth to all who drank from its waters . Although the legend originally pointed to Ethiopia based on Book III of Herodotus’ History, when the Greek historian (c. 484 BC-c. 425 BC) wrote in c. 440 BC – “The ichthyophages [a term synonymous with coastal dwelling peoples] then, in turn, they inquired of the king about the term of life and the diet of his people, and were told that most of them lived to be one hundred and twenty years old, while some even exceeded that age: they ate boiled meat, and drank nothing but milk.
When the ichthyophages marveled at the number of years, [Egyptian Pharaoh Amasis (570 BC-526 BC)] led them to a fountain [in Ethiopia], where, when they washed, they found their flesh all shiny and smooth, as if they had bathed in oil, and a smell came from the spring like that of violets. The water was so weak, they said, that nothing floated in it, not wood, not anything lighter, but everything went to the bottom. If the account of this source is true, it would be their constant use of the water from it that makes them so long-lived.”[1] – Later stories pointed to an island called Boinca located in Benini or Bimini, the westernmost district of the Bahamas.
With Boinca within his grasp, Ponce de León made two attempts to locate the mystical fountain, one in 1513 and the other in 1521. Although accounts claim that he never found the fountain of youth, scientific evidence indicates that it came tantalizingly close. If he had looked below the pristine waters of the Caribbean, he might have seen a biologically immortal jellyfish (absence of a sustained increasing mortality rate as a result of increasing chronological age as established by the Gompertz-Makeham law of mortality). , the Turritopsis nutriculawhich with its gelatinous composition (96% water, 3% salt/other compounds and 1% carbon and nitrogen), transparent and shiny bell shape and ability to revert to a younger state, is a living fountain of youth.
However, it was not until March 1992 when Giorgio Bavestrello, Christian Somner and Michele Sará published Bidirectional conversion into Turritopsis nutricula that this living fountain of youth was discovered. Unlike other jellyfish that usually die after reproducing, Turritopsis nutriculaa tiny solitary organism that feeds on brine shrimp, microscopic plankton, zooplankton, and other tiny organisms, demonstrated “a unique case of reversal of ontogeny (the development of an individual organism from embryo to adult).”
Turritopsis nutricula, which originated in the Caribbean (but has spread throughout the world’s oceans) is currently the only known organism where transdifferentiation (the irreversible transformation of cells from one differentiated type to another) occurs at the organismic level even though its individual parts By themselves, they are incapable of regeneration. Apart from Turritopsis nutricula transdifferentiation, the phenomenon that by CDM Davey, Transdifferentiation Theory (May 2, 2006) “it is a very rare event in nature”, it usually occurs at the organic level when certain organisms such as newts and salamanders regenerate missing parts. In summary, although the change of cell types occurs in rare cases, usually when an organism regenerates an organ or part, it is an integral phase in Turritopsis nutricula life cycle.
With its ability to reverse the aging process, returning from a mature adult stage to an immature polyp stage (its first life stage) an indefinite number of times based on experimental results indicating a 100% transformation rate based on a sample of 4000 Turritopsis nutricula medusae collected in the Gulf of Naples in the western Mediterranean between June 1993 and October 1994, regardless of exposure to adverse conditions or the type of stressor or the absence thereof, as reported by Stefano Piraino, Ferdinando Boero, Brigitte Aeschbach and Volker Schmid in Reversing the life cycle: jellyfish transforming into polyps and cell transdifferentiation into Turritopsis nutricula (Cnidarians, Hydrozoans) (Biology Bulletin, June 1996) – Turritopsis nutricula he has no natural limit to his lifespan as he can effectively regenerate his entire body. Turritopsis nutricula essentially uses transdifferentiation to address environmental stressors (eg, increased/decreased water temperature, reduced salinity (salt content), food shortages, and even senescence (biological aging)) and to repair physical/internal damage (eg, parts of her body, especially her bell, are punctured or cut) regardless of stage. Besides, Turritopsis nutricula it also engages in transdifferentiation after sexual activity regardless of stress conditions.
Although Turritopsis nutricula the ability to transdifferentiate makes it biologically immortal, it is not naturally immortal per se. Like any jellyfish, it is subject to predation and disease (especially during the immature plankton stage; consequently, most of those that succumb perish before the (mature) jellyfish stage). However, since the latter poses a reduced risk, the population of Turritopsis nutricula is currently rising out of control, leading Maria Pia Miglietta, Ph.D. of the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute to declare: “We are seeing a silent invasion around the world.”[2]
Life cycles of jellyfish and Turritopsis nutricula:
The typical jellyfish has a finite lifespan ranging from a few hours for the smallest species to several months or even years for the largest species. From the moment of their creation, jellyfish normally go through senescence and natural death eventually results after propagation. Turritopsis nutricula, on the other hand, prevents senescence because transdifferentiation or reversion to a younger state allows it to maintain efficient DNA repair capabilities, retain high levels of antioxidants, and minimize the production of free radicals (damaging oxidants that impair the cellular capacity of a body to respond to homeostatic imbalances (loss of balance), disease and other stress factors). By doing so, it prevents apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Transdifferentiation, which is a critical part of Turritopsis nutricula life cycle is described below:
1. Eggs develop in the gonads (located in the stomach walls) of females Turritopsis nutricula.
2. Mature eggs are fertilized by sperm released into water columns by males Turritopsis nutricula.
3. Fertilized eggs hatch into planula larvae that settle on the sea floor and establish colonies of polyps called hydroids. Each polyp depends on tiny feeding tubes for its sustenance.
4. Each polyp produces a medusa (medusa) cocoon.
5. Within a few days, the jellyfish (approximately 1 mm in diameter with eight evenly spaced tentacles) separate from the colony of hydroids.
6. Within 18 to 30 days, the jellyfish reach sexual maturity depending on the average water temperature (18 to 22 days for an average temperature of 72ºF; 25 to 30 days for an average temperature of 68ºF). Upon reaching maturity, Turritopsis nutricula Jellyfish range in size from about 4-5mm and consist of 80-90 tentacles.
7. Turritopsis nutricula it then engages in a reverse metamorphosis gradually inverting or contracting its bell with “intensive DNA replication occurring in the cells of the exumbrella, the endoderm of the radial canals, and those of the subumbrella plate endoderm” by Reversing the life cycle: jellyfish transforming into polyps and cell transdifferentiation into Turritopsis nutricula (Cnidarians, Hydrozoans) (Biology Bulletin, June 1996).
8. Its tentacles and meogloea (the middle layer) then shrink and resorb as Turritopsis nutricula returns to a cyst or mass of tissue, settling on a substratum (surface on which an organism grows or adheres).
9. Turritopsis nutricula The jellyfish then produce stolons that develop into polyps in a few days to form another colony of hydroids. Subsequently, each polyp produces a jellyfish cocoon as the cycle resumes from step 4 only to repeat itself over and over again due to sexual activity or exposure to stress, increasing DNA replication, a key prerequisite. of the transdifferentiation process.
Conclusion:
Scientists and geneticists are currently studying Turritopsis nutricula to discover its remarkable ability to reverse the aging process. Although the method Turritopsis nutricula uses remains unknown, simplicity of organism, genetic code (DNA could be structured to initiate reversion to polyp state when specific senescence, biological or stress conditions are met based on changes in chemical composition that could serve as a catalyst) partial potential (in which fusion of adult embryonic stem (ES) cells with pluripotent stem (PS) cells could play a role in transdifferentiation) or complete retention of pluripotency (in which the entire cell count stem would consist of PS cells) may play a role. Turritopsis nutricula However, the ability to transdifferentiate does not depend solely on stem cells. Instead, interstitial cells (differentiating stem cells) together with secretory differentiating (exumbrella or bell), digestive/circulatory (gastrovascular), and/or skeletal muscle cells are thought to play a role as well.
Should researchers finally unravel the mystery of how Turritopsis nutricula engages in transdifferentiation, the secret to biological immortality could be achieved by ending the age-old and often perceived quixotic quest for the fountain of youth. However, if such a development were to occur, the range of socioeconomic, demographic, generational, and even ethical issues (would the government determine the length of life through euthanasia in response to increased competition for limited and finite resources resulting from overpopulation? ?) that I would finally have to address would be staggering and perhaps impossible to solve. Consequently, even if scientific research finally solves the mystery of this living fountain of youth, humanity may be figuratively prohibited from drinking its waters to maintain socioeconomic, generational, and moral stability, especially since the alternative could have major unintended consequences. that could even lead to Armageddon and human extinction.