The Immortal Jellyfish: Turritopsis Nutricula
The Immortal Jellyfish-Turritopsis Nutricula
Yung-Hsing, Hsieh (Sky)
Rosemary Reynolds
Research 111
April 19, 2012
The Immortal Jellyfish-Turritopsis Nutricula “There is no such thing as forever.” Although almost everyone thinks this is true, have you ever imagined that maybe it would be possible for you to live forever some day? How would the world work or change if human beings were never going to die? Of course, it would not be real today, but it is something that you can dream of at least once. Despite the fact that death has been the stuff that people always try to evade, ultimately it is unavoidable, as it is the exactly way the life cycle goes. However, what if there is truly one sort of creature that actually has an immortal lifespan? In fact, scientists have found a specific jellyfish, which lives forever, in big oceans. This is a really amazing living being that we have never seen before, which is not only in the record of animals, but also in the whole world. Its transition is really rare and can actually transform its form and become young again. It is located on the Florida Coast and named Turritopsis nutricula(2011/4/25, Peniel). Turritopsis nutricula has been uncovered all over the world. Scientists have been wondering why the numbers of this jellyfish have been increasing and lately they realized that one of the causes might be its immortal capacity. It only grows to 0.2 inches but somehow it can regenerate itself repeatedly(N.D. Melanie Lasoff Levs). What makes it so special is the way that it restarts its own life by changing its form from mature to immature individual for unlimited times. It has the very ability to revive a polyp again and create more new colonies, which is the reason that the number of this jellyfish has increased. “It is like a butterfly but instead of dying it turns back into a caterpillar,” said Maria Pia Miglietta, who is a biology researcher at Pennsylvania State
Yung-Hsing, Hsieh (Sky)
Rosemary Reynolds
Research 111
April 19, 2012
The Immortal Jellyfish-Turritopsis Nutricula “There is no such thing as forever.” Although almost everyone thinks this is true, have you ever imagined that maybe it would be possible for you to live forever some day? How would the world work or change if human beings were never going to die? Of course, it would not be real today, but it is something that you can dream of at least once. Despite the fact that death has been the stuff that people always try to evade, ultimately it is unavoidable, as it is the exactly way the life cycle goes. However, what if there is truly one sort of creature that actually has an immortal lifespan? In fact, scientists have found a specific jellyfish, which lives forever, in big oceans. This is a really amazing living being that we have never seen before, which is not only in the record of animals, but also in the whole world. Its transition is really rare and can actually transform its form and become young again. It is located on the Florida Coast and named Turritopsis nutricula(2011/4/25, Peniel). Turritopsis nutricula has been uncovered all over the world. Scientists have been wondering why the numbers of this jellyfish have been increasing and lately they realized that one of the causes might be its immortal capacity. It only grows to 0.2 inches but somehow it can regenerate itself repeatedly(N.D. Melanie Lasoff Levs). What makes it so special is the way that it restarts its own life by changing its form from mature to immature individual for unlimited times. It has the very ability to revive a polyp again and create more new colonies, which is the reason that the number of this jellyfish has increased. “It is like a butterfly but instead of dying it turns back into a caterpillar,” said Maria Pia Miglietta, who is a biology researcher at Pennsylvania State