A strange, even alien-looking and widespread creature in the world's oceans, it is practically immortal. It is Turritopsis dohrinii, an "immortal jellyfish" that has the ability to avoid death under stress. In a similar way to the butterfly and caterpillar cycle, the jellyfish resort to the stage of a coral polyp. Then he becomes a jellyfish again and thus circumvents death.

It was not until the 90s that scientists realized how amazing this little creature was. This tiny animal, also called Benjamin Button's jellyfish, is becoming more and more popular. Could this immortal "jelly" reveal the key to the fight against cancer or even the secret of human immortality?

This idea is definitely nothing new. As we will see below in one of the oldest surviving literary works, these ideas go back several millennia.

Is the key to immortality in the deep waters of the oceans?

Many scientists doubt that the key to immortality can be revealed in connection with this jellyfish. However, one of the world's leading experts believes the opposite. It is Shin Kubota from the Japanese University of Kyoto, who has high hopes for his studies. Kubota told a New York Times reporter: "Using the Turritopsis life cycle in our lives is humanity's most wonderful dream. Once we find out how jellyfish rejuvenate, we should achieve amazing things ourselves. In my opinion, we will be able to evolve ourselves and become immortal. "

Kubota is one of the few people in the world who has kept the jellyfish population in captivity for more than 15 years. Although they can avoid death under certain stressful conditions, their artificial breeding requiring daily feeding is very difficult.

Dr. Maria Pia Miglietta from Texas A&M University also studies jellyfish. What she learned about the life cycle of Turritopsis is called the "holy grail of regenerative medicine." You can watch her discussion on the topic in the video below.

Revealing the secrets of transdifferentiation

An immortal jellyfish can transform its cells by transdifferentiation. Its muscle cells can turn into nerve cells, sperm or eggs. Transdifferentiation is not just a matter of jellyfish, for example it has been experimentally induced in mice. What's more, the human body has similar abilities in its stem cells. Is it possible that with the growing interest of scientists in research on Turritopsis dohrinii and stem cells, we will eventually discover how to bypass the stem cell phases and decode their transformation capabilities?

Will people one day be able to rejuvenate? Yes, it is possible.

The mystery of immortality found in the ancient text

Achieving immortality seems to us to be the subject of sci-fi stories. However, this idea is very old and dates back to ancient Babylonian mythology, thousands of years before the existence of today's sci-fi themes.

Already in the Epic of Gilgamesh, dated at least 5000 years ago, King Gilgamesh of Uruk learns of the secret of immortality. Interestingly, the story gives the impression of a connection with the immortal jellyfish, which is now widespread across the world's oceans.

Gilgamesh, Utnapishim and the search for eternal life

In the epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh sets out to find the secret of immortality. During this journey, he meets the sage Utnapishti, the only man who has survived the great flood of the world. He, together with his wife, saved animal and human life on a large ship, which they built themselves. Yes, it sounds the same as the biblical story of Noah, but this one is much older.

Time magazine mentioned the similarity between Gilgamesh and the biblical Noah's Ark in a 2014 review of Noah:

"The Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh dates back almost 5000 years and is considered perhaps the oldest written story on our planet. It includes the mention of the great sage Utnapishtim, who is warned of the impending flood to be sent down by angry gods. Utnapištim builds a huge, tar- and pitch-hardened, circular ship that loads his relatives, animals and grain. After a persistent storm, Utnapishim, like Noah, will release a bird to find the mainland. "

Utnistishim, like Noah, will survive the flood. God Enlil then rewards them with his wife immortality, and they both become the ancestors of the new human race.

Secrets at the bottom of the sea

Did Utnapishim, to whom the gods had granted immortality, know its secrets? After Gilgamesh meets the immortal sage, he learns that the secret is hidden on the seabed. Utnapistim first tells Gilgamesh that immortality can only be granted by the gods. He then admits that there may be a way to rejuvenate. At the same time, he tells him about a "plant" located at the bottom of the ocean. This plant can reveal the secrets of longer life, if not immortality. So Gilgamesh sets out to find the plant. On the way back, however, he loses her - a snake eats her.

"Gilgamesh ties the stones to his feet so that he can walk on the seabed to find the plant. First he wants to use the plant to rejuvenate the elders of the city of Uruk and only then for himself. While bathing, he puts the plant on the shore of the lake, where a snake steals it from him. After eating it, he removes the old skin and is reborn. "

Gilgamesh must therefore accept that he will not be immortal and will die without deciphering the mystery of the submarine coral.

Will the ancient story come true?

Is it possible for one of the world's oldest stories to tell of immortal jellyfish? When a jellyfish is injured, it can sink to the bottom of the sea. It then transforms into a lump and grows into a plant polyp.

Undoubtedly, there is a striking resemblance between Gilgamesh's story and the reality of the immortal jellyfish. Maybe one day, unlike Gilgamesh, scientists will discover the secrets of rejuvenation, cancer treatment, or brain disease, if not immortality? We can state that we can already reprogram and rejuvenate the stem cells of adult mice.

Researchers have also recently discovered that jellyfish may be one of our most distant ancient ancestors - the roots of the Tree of Life.

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