Keeping up with the Immortal Jellyfish: Biological Immortality in the Animal Kingdom & Applications for Prolonging Human Lifespan

Started July 6, 2022

Abstract or project description

If you were to ask someone what they were most afraid of, what do you think they would say? Chances are, many would respond that they have a fear of death. After all, according to Chapman University’s 2017 “Survey of American Fears,” 20.3% of Americans are “afraid” or “very afraid” of dying. Unlike other fears such as fear of public speaking, spiders, or tiny holes that could be avoided, death cannot be avoided for most. Yet interestingly, some incredible yet biologically simple organisms seem to have found the fountain of youth. Organisms such as the Hydra, the Turritopsis nutricula jellyfish, turtles, and lobsters are able to employ various mechanisms that could ultimately prolong their lives for thousands of years, rendering them biologically immortal. These mechanisms include the telomerase enzyme, which prevents the telomere shortening that leads to age-related cellular degradation, the FoxO gene, which maintains the stem cells and supports innate immune pathways that defend the organism against microinvasion, limitless regeneration of cells/tissues/organs/DNA, the ability to revert back to an earlier stage of the lifespan by restarting the growth process of cells, and cryptobiosis, which halts metabolism to promote survival during extremely adverse conditions. In this paper, we will attempt to answer the question “is it possible for humans to be biologically immortal” by reviewing the functions and structures of the aforementioned mechanisms and examining how humans have evolved to not possess them. This paper will also evaluate the nuances and consequences if humans indeed became biologically immortal by addressing the inevitable changes to life as we know it today.