For fans of Doctor Who and its spinoff series, Torchwood, the news that the secret of immortality may lie in the tentacles of tiny jellyfish isn’t a surprise. This was a significant plot point of the fourth series of Torchwood, subtitled “Miracle Day.” (For anyone who hasn’t seen the show yet and plans to, I won’t elaborate. Spoilers.)
Today the New York Times published a 6,500-word article by writer Nathaniel Rich titled, “Can a Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality?” The jellyfish in question is the Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as the “Benjamin Button” jellyfish. (It’s related to the one in the Torchwood series: Turritopsis nutricula.) When sick, old, or injured, it launches a process called transdifferentiation in which the adult jellyfish (called a ‘medusa’) absorbs itself and effectively starts over as a polyp. Barring total catastrophic destruction of the organism, this process can be repeated indefinitely. These jellyfish effectively achieve biological immortality.
What this means for human evolution has yet to be seen. As the article suggests, few scientists are working on this question, and more funding is needed to discover how the jellyfish are able to start over. Cambridge researcher and CSO of the SENS Foundation Aubrey de Grey gave a TED talk in 2005 about ending or reversing the aging process. He is talking about a life span extension of about 30 years, but thinks that getting the average life span to 150 is not unfeasible.
What I found interesting about the New York Times article was the Japanese scientist Shin Kubota’s question about immortality. He’s not asking whether it’s possible to achieve it. That’s a real scientific possibility. He’s wondering whether we’re ready as a species.
“Before we achieve immortality,” [Kubota] said, “we must evolve first. The heart is not good.”
With every episode of The Walking Dead I see, every time I turn on the radio or open a newspaper, and for every anti-gay bill that threatens the liberties and lives of human beings the world over, I wonder the same thing. But as a humanist, I can’t help but hope.
The post ‘Big things have small beginnings’ – Immortality and the jellyfish appeared first on gaywithoutgod.com.