Immortal jellyfish... to cure cancer?!

[Roski]

http://fishinsects.suite101.com/article.cfm/the-immortal-jellyfish

None of my friends believed me, but guess who just found it on good ol' Google? It's just a jellyfish that can reverse its life cycle and theoretically live forever - Very neat little cnidarians! Can you imagine... second childhood, then third, then fourth... in the name of immortality!

(No, the cancer thing really IS mentioned in the article. Albeit briefly, but enough to save me from accusations of false advertising. )

 

[curiousme]

Very interesting Roski. Thank you very much for sharing that!

 

[Protectyaaaneck]

That's awesome. I wonder if their is a limit as to how many times it can perform the process of transdifferentiation.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

This reminds me a bit of when they discovered that porpoises could effectively live forever too. In their case, it was a result of diet. The details are complicated, but to keep it brief, a scientist discovered that mynah birds were a source of an enzyme that conveyed incredible longevity to the sea mammals. From what his research indicated, their was no limit to this effect, potentially the porpoises could live forever on this newly-discovered enzyme.
The study met a premature end when the scientist was arrested. You see, he was performing the study in Maine and the closest source of mynah birds was New Hampshire. The problem was, Maine has pretty strict non-native species laws, so he had to smuggle the birds from an importer in New Hampshire to his lab in Maine. Sadly, he got caught.
They shut down his study, and he was charged with transporting mynahs over state lines for immortal porpoises.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Aurelia]

This reminds me a bit of when they discovered that porpoises could effectively live forever too. In their case, it was a result of diet. The details are complicated, but to keep it brief, a scientist discovered that mynah birds were a source of an enzyme that conveyed incredible longevity to the sea mammals. From what his research indicated, their was no limit to this effect, potentially the porpoises could live forever on this newly-discovered enzyme.
The study met a premature end when the scientist was arrested. You see, he was performing the study in Maine and the closest source of mynah birds was New Hampshire. The problem was, Maine has pretty strict non-native species laws, so he had to smuggle the birds from an importer in New Hampshire to his lab in Maine. Sadly, he got caught.
They shut down his study, and he was charged with transporting mynahs over state lines for immortal porpoises.

*groan* :wall:

 

[skinheaddave]

They shut down his study, and he was charged with transporting mynahs over state lines for immortal porpoises.

.... can't breathe ... ...

 

[Roski]

Rofl! Thanks, Tim. If you were any sharper you'd need a first aid kit for anyone who gets too close!