The start of the new year brings all kinds of discussions about starting fresh — resolutions, new beginnings and the like. It is all about looking forward and setting intentions for the coming year. But what if you could go backwards? I don’t mean time traveling, which has always been a human fascination. I recently rewatched “Back to the Future,” which I found to be quite instructive regarding what technologies we thought would be common way back in 1985 and still don’t exist today! Marty McFly’s age goes forward and back 30 years or so with the help of some amazing make-up. While no land-loving creature can actually reverse age, the unassuming blob-like jellyfish possesses this superpower.
To be transparent, not all jellyfish can do this. In fact, none of the species that live in Maine can. In Maine, we have three native jelly species that are all quite different. The northern comb jelly, which is the smallest of the bunch, measures only up to 6 inches or so and has iridescent highlights of blue, pink and purple. They stand in stark contrast to the giant red lion’s mane jellies that can be up to 8 feet across and have tentacles as long as 100 feet. And then there’s the common but innocuous moon jelly with its translucent bell that is found in large numbers in shallow bays in the late spring.
Maine jellies share a number of the same characteristics with the incredible jellyfish species that can reverse age. All jellyfish alternate between two stages during their life cycle. Think of it a bit like the riddle of the Sphinx where a man walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening, man starting out and then returning to similar points of less mobility at the beginning and end stages of his life. A jellyfish starts out as a polyp that attaches to something until it develops enough to transform into a medusa, the beautiful floating creature that drifts through the water, pumping its tentacles as it moves. These initial polyps look much like tiny anemones and are, in fact, related to them, both having stinging tentacles. But anemones stay put after they settle as larvae rather than transforming into medusae like jellies.
The species that has recently been dubbed the “immortal jellyfish” doesn’t develop in one direction from polyp to medusa, but instead keeps the cycle going by returning to the polyp phase. Some jellyfish species can do this before they reproduce, but the subject that has recently made the news, Turritopsis dohrnii, is unusual for its ability to do this after reproducing. Think about how amazing that would be to have kids and then magically return to a younger age!
T. dohrnii is found in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world. Its geographic distribution has increased from its original home in the Pacific to more widespread locations — most likely via the ballast water from ships. They are super small, their bells being less than a quarter of an inch across. The tiniest ones that first develop from the solitary polyp phase are only about 1 millimeter big. Scientists have observed that T. dohrnii does this in response to a threat from predators. It can turn from a floating medusa back into a cyst that then attaches as a polyp to wait out the threat. Then, it can return to the medusa phase, thus going forward and backward in its developmental cycle.
Understandably, this species’ superpower has sparked many discussions about “reverse aging.” To that end, scientists have been studying its genes to see what makes it different from its closest relatives that don’t possess the same ability. They found that T. dohrnii has more genes dedicated to DNA repair and protection. This could not only have applications for those wishing to return to a younger state but also for regenerative therapies for cancer and other degenerative diseases. You can learn all about them at this great website: therealimmortaljellyfish.com.
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