Tough Nut

While humans have to make do with love, abstract maths and making a decent lasagne, there are creatures on Earth capable of other enviable feats. Axolotl can regenerate most of their organs after injury, and researchers find this ‘sea walnut’ (Mnemiopsis leidyi), to be biologically immortal. After a period of severe stress or injury, M. leidyi undergoes ‘reverse development’, shrinking and resetting some of its tissues to an earlier developmental stage to better repair and recover. This incredible behaviour has parallels with certain jellyfish species such as Turritopsis dohrnii, but there may be lessons here for mammals too. While it’s unlikely we’ll be immortal any time soon, M. leidyi could be used as a model organism for studying the molecular details of ageing and rejuvenation – perhaps helping us to heal faster from injury, if not from the ravages of age.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Video from work by Joan J. Soto-Angel and Pawel Burkhardt
• Michael Sars Centre, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
• Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), October 2024