What does the average person dream about? About wealth, fame, career, or in extreme cases, about the ideal life partner. At the same time, all people have one common dream. We wish live forever!

Who among us would not like to stop the aging process somewhere between 25 and 35 years of his life? The alchemists of the Middle Ages speculated on this desire, the swindlers of our time are also speculating, and serious scientists, no, no, yes, they will mention another theory of eternal life. And any scientific discovery in this area is perceived with great enthusiasm and hope.

ETERNAL MEDUSA

Among the very short list of living creatures whose lives last surprisingly long, only the jellyfish Turritopsis Nutricula has the possibility of true immortality. It turned out that this organism can die only from external influences. Moreover, this mysterious species of jellyfish not only can live forever, but also does not age!

If biologists find a way to transfer the most important qualities of immortal jellyfish to people, passionate natures will have to rejoice most of all, since Turritopsis Nutricula jellyfish get younger immediately after the mating process, simply put, an act of love in the human sense.

Rejuvenating sexual intercourse in this type of jellyfish can occur any number of times. It is surprising that, according to the observations of the same scientists, absolutely all other types of jellyfish die after mating.

Careful study of Turritopsis Nutricula led to the understanding that there is nothing supernatural in their bodies. The thing is that jellyfish cells have the ability to transform, because by their nature they are stem cells. Humans also have these cells in small quantities, and modern medicine has long and successfully used them in cosmetic procedures.

Despite the small size of this unique species of jellyfish (4-5 mm in diameter), scientists are seriously concerned about the huge growth in the population of these creatures. So, Dr. Maria Migilietta of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute believes that immortal jellyfish have already begun to capture the waters of the oceans, thereby upsetting the balance of the biosphere.

COLLEAGUES IN IMMORTALITY

Despite the fact that only Turritopsis Nutricula are officially recognized as immortal creatures, there are other contenders for this honorary title in the world.

Next come the ever-young hydras. It is noteworthy that if humanity learned about the immortality of jellyfish relatively recently, then scientists started talking about the fact that hydras are unique in life expectancy back in the 19th century. At the end of the 20th century, scientists experimentally proved that hydras never age.

They die either from diseases, or from the fact that they are corny eaten. One more interesting feature hydra is the way of reproduction. These are probably the only creatures in the world that can reproduce both independently and with the help of a partner. At the same time, scientists also know both heterosexual hydras and hermaphrodite hydras.

The next contender for eternity is one of the favorite delicacies the richest people peace - lobster. And few of the gourmets who deftly butcher these inhabitants of the sea with tongs know that lobsters have self-healing DNA. In fact, this means that they could live forever if not for people, illness and accidents.

Scientists have searched for internal causes in the body of lobsters that could lead to their death, but in vain. With age, their excellent appetite does not subside, the reproductive function works well, there is no decline in strength or deterioration in health. As a result, biologists recognized that the only reason for the death of a lobster can only be some external factor, which in 99% of cases becomes fishermen.

Another long-liver among the inhabitants of the deep sea is the sea urchin. Scientists from the University of Oregon have discovered fantastic features in sea urchins. After lengthy research, it turned out that the sea urchin, like the lobster, not only does not age, but, for example, at the age of one hundred has the same abilities as at ten.

The cause of his death is also not a natural death in the process of aging, but only diseases, marine predators and fishermen! Interestingly, for a long time it was believed that sea ​​urchins live on average no more than 10-15 years.

However, later, in the 1950s, it turned out that the age of sea urchins can be determined not by the state of the organism, but only by the size of the urchin itself. The larger the sea urchin, the older it is, and it does not stop growing throughout its life! So, for example, sea urchins, having a diameter of 20 cm, exchanged two hundred years.

Skeptics may argue that lobsters are a popular delicacy, so their population, despite immortality, is small, but why have sea urchins, having endless life and excellent reproductive function, still not completely captured the seas and oceans? The answer is simple - it's all about the value of their caviar.

The Japanese, who annually eat more than 500 tons of sea urchin caviar, are ready to buy it in any quantity.

In fact, this is not quite caviar, these are his gonads. The inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun became addicted to them many centuries ago and eat both raw and fried, boiled and even pickled.

But the main thing is not the taste at all. Connoisseurs call these glands "sea ginseng." And studies have proven that they contain the most valuable biologically active substances, which have a positive effect on blood pressure, cardiovascular activity, cure thyroid diseases, increase the body's potency and resistance to various infections, and even remove radionuclides from the body!

Moreover, a number of scientists believe that the world's highest average life expectancy of the Japanese - 89 years - is associated precisely with addiction to this product.

ETERNAL DIGGER

But not only the depths of the seas and oceans are able to bestow eternal life. In Africa, there are also land ageless animals. The most studied African underground rodent is the naked mole rat. Isn't it a wonderful nickname for a creature that essentially resembles our native mole in central Russia?

According to scientists from the University of Rochester, this amazing animal never gets old and does not get cancer! Naked mole rats live in the savannas and semi-deserts of countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia or Kenya. They are usually no larger than the average mouse. True, unlike mice, which live only about 2-3 years, they sometimes reach the age of 30 years or more.

Externally, naked mole rats fully justify their name, because they look like just born little rats. The only difference is that, even after becoming adults, diggers are not covered with wool.

After studying adult naked mole rats, scientists were surprised to note that they completely lacked such signs of aging as muscle flabbiness, reproductive dysfunction or bone disease.
It turned out that the whole thing is in telomeres - the terminal sections of chromosomes. Due to their presence in naked mole rats, cellular aging does not occur. At the same time, interestingly, in ordinary mice and a number of other animals, the presence of this enzyme causes cancer and premature death, but in naked mole rats, on the contrary, it helps to maintain eternal youth.

During lengthy experiments, it turned out that hyaluronic acid is also present in the body of a naked mole rat, which, despite active cell division, protects the animal from cancer. There is this acid in the human body.

The difference is that in a naked mole rat it is high molecular weight, while in humans it is low molecular weight. It turned out that when high-molecular hyaluronic acid is added to human cells, the aging process slows down and the risk of cancer is significantly reduced!

Today, scientists continue to study the naked mole rat and high-molecular hyaluronic acid, hoping that in the very near future, based on these studies, a drug will be created that will give a person not only eternal youth, but also life without cancer.

Dmitry SOKOLOV

While people are looking for the secrets of longevity, these animals, birds and fish have been living quietly for hundreds of years on our planet. 14 old-timers animals and one immortal creature on our list!

1. George, a giant lobster, weighs about 9.1 kg, suggesting that it is about 140 years old. It was caught in 2008 off the coast of Newfoundland. For a while, George was the property of the City Crab and Seafood restaurant in New York City, which sold the lobster for $100. However, in 2009 he was released back into the ocean, largely under the influence of animal rights group PETA.

2. Hatteria Henry, who lives at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery in New Zealand, celebrated his 115th birthday. If scientists correctly determined the age of the reptile, then Henry is the same age as Al Capone. Interestingly, in 2009, Henry managed to breed with another tuatara named Mildred, who was then 111 years old. Indeed, all ages are submissive to love!

3. Guidaki is a species of marine mollusks considered to be the largest burrowing molluscs. In addition, guidaki are also long-lived: their average life expectancy is 146 years, and the age of the oldest individual found today is 168 years.

4. This is Jonathan, a 182-year-old St. Helena giant tortoise. "He is practically blind, has lost his sense of smell, but he still has good hearing," says a local veterinarian. At 182, Jonathan may be the oldest living creature on the planet.

Jonathan in the 1900s.

Jonathan now.

5. Until recently, the 83-year-old lived at the Adelaide Zoo flamingo named Greater. The bird arrived at the zoo in the 1930s, survived a bully attack in 2008, but, to the great regret of the Australians, was euthanized in January 2014 after her condition deteriorated and treatment stopped working.

6. Hoplostet- a species of deep-sea fish that reach sexual maturity after 20 years and can live up to 150 years. This means that the oldest known hoplostet was born around the same year that Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States.

7. It is known that red sea urchins live an average of 200 years. These invertebrates live in shallow water off the west coast of America. The sea urchin, passing through all stages of development to an adult in just 1 month, at the age of two years reaches a size of 4 cm, and then annually adds 10 millimeters in height. These animals attracted special attention of scientists after a mark dated 1805 was found on one of the living individuals.

8 Cockatoo Cookie celebrated its 80th anniversary last year. It was caught in 1933 in Australia and arrived at Brookfield Zoo (USA) in time for its opening in 1934. Cookie has significantly outlived its relatives: parrots of this species in captivity live from 40 to 60 years. Since 2009, the parrot has ceased to be shown to the public, except for isolated appearances in connection with the holidays and the celebration of his birthday.

9. A clam named Ming, caught on the Icelandic shelf, according to the first assumptions, he lived for 400 years. When re-analyzed, scientists determined its age at around 507 years.

10. Bowhead whales can live up to 200 years. The average lifespan of this species is about 40 years. However, some individuals can live up to 211 years, which is a record among vertebrates.

11. 103 year old Granny, the oldest known killer whale, is the matriarch of a community of killer whales known as J-Pod. Her age has been calculated in an unusual way. Since it was impossible to study it with standard methods, scientists used the method of counting reproductive cycles. Killer whales give their first offspring at the age of 14 and stop giving birth at the age of 40. The offspring live with their parents all their lives, and it was this factor that made it possible to determine the age of the Granny killer whale.

12. Another long-liver among representatives of turtles - who died in 2006 250 year old Advaita, a giant tortoise from the island of Aldabra. The average weight of such a turtle is about 120 kilograms. Advaita was very popular with tourists and attracted many visitors to the Calcutta City Zoo.

13. In the same 2006, another giant tortoise died - 176 year old Harriet from the zoo in Queensland (Australia). It is believed that Charles Darwin personally found Gariette in 1835 on one of the Galapagos Islands.

14. Albatros Wisdom, perhaps the youngest of the representatives of this list. She is approximately 63 years old. Albatrosses mate for life, and Wisdom and his partner raised about 30 chicks, the latest of which - the 35th according to ornithologists' count - appeared this winter.

15. The list is closed by Turritopsis dohrnii. Their other name is . These creatures live in the Mediterranean Sea and in the waters of Japan. Their amazing ability to live forever was discovered quite by accident by student Christian Sommer in 1988. During his summer holidays, Christian studied the hydroid class of aquatic invertebrates, whose life cycle includes the jellyfish with hallmark- velum and polyp. Sommer kept his findings in petri dishes and watched their reproduction cycles. After a few days, he noticed that Turritopsis dohrnii was behaving very unusually, beyond reasonable explanation. These jellyfish didn't die. In other words, they grew backwards, getting younger and younger, until they reached an early stage of development where they started their life cycle all over again. Later, scientists from Genoa, who deepened Christian's research, published Reversing the Life Cycle in 1996, in which they described the process of turning adults back into polyps, which, in fact, opens the way for these creatures to potential immortality. By the way, Turritopsis dohrnii is often called Benjamin Button's jellyfish.

The only immortal creature on Earth is probably the jellyfish. The hydroid Turritopsis nutricula, which is only 4-5 mm in diameter, is a unique animal that can rejuvenate itself, The Times explains.

Usually, jellyfish die after breeding, but Turritopsis is able to return from the "adult" stage of the jellyfish to the "baby" stage of the polyp. Theoretically, this cycle is capable of repeating itself indefinitely, making the creature potentially immortal. Turritopsis nutricula has been found in warm tropical waters, but scientists suspect the species is spreading to other regions as well.

Jellyfish and hydras have long been in the field of view of biologists and geneticists, who hope with the help of these creatures to uncover the secrets of the aging process. The theory of "biological immortality" of the hydra was put forward in the 19th century, and in the late 1990s it was experimentally proven that hydras do not die due to aging.

Note that biologists also know "immortal" cells capable of dividing an infinite number of times under favorable conditions. These include, for example, stem cells.

By the way:

The implementation of the mechanism of aging and death at the molecular genetic level can be represented by the following theories:

In 1971, A.M. Olovnikov suggested that during cell division, DNA cannot reproduce an absolute copy, the tip of the molecule, as it were, breaks off, as a result of successive contractions, it becomes unsuitable for reading information. Hence the well-known "Hayflick limit" - the ability of a human cell to divide 50-59 times.

In the experiments of California researchers, it was shown that DNA is indeed limited by telomeres, which protect the molecule from damage. These nucleotide sequences do not carry an informational load and are reduced at the time of division. The introduction of the telomerase enzyme gene using genetic engineering methods increases the lifespan of the cell by 2 times today (over 100 divisions).

A no less interesting explanation of the aging process at a subtle level was proposed by A.G. Trubitsin, who sees longevity horizons in the study of early isoenzymes that affect the successive passage of discrete phases. cell cycle, mainly phase G1.

The genes encoding anti-aging proteins include APO-A1. In the works of V.A. Kurdyum, gene implantation in experimental animals gave a pronounced anti-atherosclerotic effect.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology managed to explain the biochemical mechanism of the starvation phenomenon: they found that the S1R2 gene and the protein it encodes have a decisive effect on the aging process - the higher the content of this protein in a cell, the higher its life expectancy. And one of the main factors contributing to the growth of this indicator is starvation. By the way, half-starved rats under experimental conditions live twice as long as their counterparts.

Aging can also be considered as a deficient state, when essential vitamins, microelements, amino acids and fatty acid. Half of the centenarians live in mountainous areas, where in addition to clean air and melt water, soils are not depleted in mineral salts.

Where are the genes for longevity and aging located?

Boston scientists Thomas Perls and Louis Kunkel in studies on centenarians with a probability of 95% found a similar site on the fourth chromosome. Apparently, among these 100-150 genes are the genes for longevity and aging.

Quote from the program "Anatomy of Aging" of A. Gordon's program

Medieval bestiaries offer us theoretical explanation the essence of every living being. Wild animals symbolize different aspects human nature: the fox is cunning and deceitful, the dove is a symbol of peace, and the wolf denotes war.

Sea creatures are also affected there. Leviathans, dolphins, sea unicorns - mythical animals are endowed with all sorts of properties, but none has immortality. Meanwhile, on Earth there is really only one species that is able to live forever. Meet Turritopsis dohrnii, the immortal jellyfish!

The small jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii has a dome diameter of only 4.5 mm. Actually, this species can be called a kind of zooplankton, with which the jellyfish prefers to migrate. Scientists first discovered Turritopsis dohrnii at the beginning of this century, and a few years ago they came to an amazing conclusion: it can live forever.

Where does it live

The species originated in the Caribbean Sea, but a long time ago it spread literally to the entire globe. Turritopsis dohrnii has been found both in the Mediterranean Sea and off the Japanese coast. Scientists at the Smithsonian Maritime Institution say, half jokingly, that this jellyfish is the start of a cosmic invasion. In every joke, of course, there is a share of a joke: the second such organism on Earth simply does not exist.

Immortality

It is important to understand that we are not talking about absolute immortality. Destroying such a small creature is easy. However, it is this species that can do something that no one else can repeat. Any other species of jellyfish lives up to several months: Turritopsis dohrnii, getting into unfavorable conditions, simply returns to the very first stage of its development.

Technical explanation

At this stage, the dome and tentacles of the jellyfish stop growing. Instead, the body of Turritopsis dohrnii acquires processes on which nourishing polyps grow. To put it bluntly, if Turritopsis dohrnii feels that life is going downhill, she simply goes back to her childhood to try again.

Scientists' plans

It is still too early to talk about any benefit that the immortality of Turritopsis dohrnii can bring to our species. However, scientists at Kyoto University are already trying to identify the genome that allows the jellyfish to return to its primitive state. If this succeeds, then, theoretically, a person can be subjected to genetic modification. How do you like returning to kindergarten as a way out of difficult situations?

As scientists found out, immortal animals live on Earth - these are jellyfish of the species Turritopsis nutricula. These mysterious inhabitants of the seas never die a natural death!

The discovery, as happens quite often, happened spontaneously. Once, the Italian scientist Fernando Boero, for his own experiments, planted several jellyfish of the Turritopsis nutricula species in an aquarium “for preservation”. These jellyfish were little known to the general public, if only because they had a completely nondescript appearance and rather modest (no more than five millimeters in diameter) sizes. For some reason, the planned experiments had to be postponed, and the researcher, with absent-mindedness characteristic of all scientists, forgot about the unfortunate jellyfish. The aquarium dried up and all its inhabitants seemed to have died.

Having discovered this sad fact, Boero clasped his hands and began to clean the aquarium in order to fill it with other "guinea pigs". But Boero wouldn't have been a real naturalist if he hadn't made an attempt to study the remains of jellyfish dried up to the size of a match head before throwing them in the trash.

What was his surprise when it turned out that the jellyfish did not die at all, but only discarded their tentacles and again turned into larvae.

Boero decided to continue the spontaneous experiment and, without touching anything, refilled the aquarium with water.

After some time, a real miracle happened: the half-dried larvae turned into polyps, from which new jellyfish subsequently budded.

Thus, it turned out that inconspicuous, one might even say - primitive small jellyfish can do the impossible: arbitrarily control their own genes in order to “move backward” in case of danger, returning to the “childhood” stage of development and thus starting their life anew.

Of course, immortal jellyfish can also die, but only, as they say, “not by their own death”: they can be cut into pieces or simply eaten.

Scientists believe that the tiny hydroid jellyfish of the Turritopsis nutricula species is the only organism on Earth capable of self-regeneration and rejuvenation. She can repeat this cycle countless times, which makes her practically immortal.

This species of jellyfish, whose homeland is the Caribbean, has two stages of development: polyps and the jellyfish itself, in which it exists from several hours to several months. However, aging, this multicellular organism does not die, but returns to the polyp stage, repeating the cycle an infinite number of times.

Given that they do not die a natural death, Turritopsis Nutricula, under certain conditions, can, by multiplying too much, upset the balance of the world's oceans.
Dr. Maria Miglietta of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama said in an interview with The Sun: "We are seeing a silent invasion of these jellyfish around the world." Initially, Turritopsis Nutricula jellyfish originate from the Caribbean region, however, they gradually penetrated into other geographical areas.

However, people should not worry that this type of hydroids will eventually flood all water bodies - Turritopsis nutricula has a lot of predatory enemies that exterminate their offspring.