It has been known for some time that some species are able to regenerate entire limbs if they lose them. However, one species of jellyfish, turritopsis nutricula, goes much further; it uses the same cell re-purposing technique to turn itself back into a polyp (its immature form), thereby re-starting its life-cycle. Apparently the jellyfish use this cunning technique when they need to travel in hostile environments, such as when hitching a ride on cargo ships. This has led some people to speculate that a similar process might be used to allow human beings to travel to the stars.
3 thoughts on “The Immortal Jellyfish”
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I haven’t followed the final link, but your synopsis reminds me of the “turn our bodies into liquid/gas so we can survive the travel” technique in Piers Anthony’s “Macroscope”.
(Followed the link… Nope, nothing more substantial than your summary there)
What a wonderful theme for an anthology……….. hmmm………
I for one welcome our new, skeleton-less, jelly overlords.