Mysteries in Biology : Can We Be Immortal?

Why do we have to die? Not only humans, all animals and plants will eventually die. Uniquely, we still don't understand biologically why we have to age and eventually die. Maybe our DNA is not perfect so that over time it is damaged and can't work anymore, so that over time our body condition will weaken and eventually die.

But strangely, not all creatures can age and die. There are even living things that could in theory live forever. How can? And who is she?

Okay, let's talk about humans first. Is there any human who can live forever? Actually there is. That human figure was called Henrietta Lacks, or at least a part of him. So the story goes like this. Henrietta Lacks was a black woman who had cancer and died in 1951. After she died, the doctors took her cancer cells and then cultured them (in other words, kept them) and the cancer cells are STILL ALIVE! These cancer cells (called He-La) were used for the discovery of the polio vaccine. Because they are still alive after 70 years of the death of their owner, maybe even continue to live as long as they are maintained, these cancer cells are considered to be able to live forever.

And For Animals. Throughout history, the animal that broke the record for longevity was a type of clam called the species Arctica islandica which can live for 500 years. Wow! But don't rush to be amazed just yet. Some live longer, they can even live forever. What animal is it?

This animal is a type of jellyfish named the species Turritopsis nutricula. Why are they said to be immortal? First, let me tell you first, jellyfish have two stages in life. The first stage is the young stage, where the jellyfish will stick to the seabed and form polyps. The second stage is the adult stage (the stage we usually see in the sea) where he can swim freely in search of a mate. This stage is called the medusa stage.

Well, the peculiarity of this jellyfish is that, after reaching old age (in the form of a medusa), it can return to a young age (by switching to the polyp stage) and then repeating its life cycle again. In other words, if they wanted to, these jellyfish could live forever.

However, this does not mean that this type of jellyfish cannot die. These jellyfish do not continue to have super abilities. If only he was sick or eaten by another creature, he could die.

Wow, if we've found a creature that can live eternally, why not just research it? Who knows, we can make an "immortality extract" serum from that jellyfish or transfer its genes to humans so they can live forever. So we can be like a beautiful vampire in a movie.

But instead of being a beautiful vampire it would be like this!