The strongest creature on the surface, the water bear: not afraid of freezing, boiling, or radiation, can the immortality feature be used on the human body?

The world is so big and full of wonders. In the vast universe, life on the earth appears to be small and fragile, but there is a creature whose body does not exceed 1mm, but it can survive in an oxygen-free space!

Earlier, the Israeli probe "Genesis" crashed on the way to the moon, and the water bear carried on the spacecraft may become the only surviving creature in space. This incident has triggered an upsurge in the scientific research of lifespan sustainability. It also made the hearts of people who are still "soaking wolfberry in a thermos cup": Is it possible to make the wish of life long standby come true?

01. Water bears: no natural enemies, not afraid of cooking, freezing, and nuclear radiation

Before Israel's "Genesis", Sweden's Ingemar Jönsson team carried 3,000 tardigrade samples on space missions, and later found that this creature could survive in the extremely strong radiation environment of space for up to 10 days. You must know that people can only survive in this environment for less than 3 minutes! And they can survive and reproduce normally after returning them to Earth.

What's more powerful is that this creature can survive in the Himalayas at an altitude of 6,000 meters, in the deep sea area at 4,000 meters, or even in the environment of nuclear radiation. It can withstand extreme temperature differences from -272°C to 150°C. It is said that even the cockroaches known as "Unkillable Xiaoqiang" have to bow their heads in front of the water bears.

For the amazing vitality of this creature, scientists will naturally not miss its research. An article in the journal Nature in 2016 gave the answer: Dusp (damage inhibitory protein) is the unique "shield" of the tardigrade body. Yes, compared with other organisms, their ability to resist damage and repair is like a "king", and this ability to resist DNA damage is different from normal.

Interestingly, mitochondrial dysfunction caused by DNA damage is one of the reasons that modern scientists generally believe to accelerate human aging and cause physical decline. 9 reasons, one of which is mitochondrial dysfunction. The special damage-resistant and repairing ability of water bears allows scientists to see the new hope of human "long life standby".

02. Humans take supplements for longevity, while water bears only use two tricks

In fact, long before the research on tardigrades, the concept of "repairing and improving mitochondrial function" to achieve aging reversal and lifespan extension is not mysterious. In recent years, it has become a popular research direction, and it has even become popular in consumer terminals.

In 2020, Bioagen, a mitochondrial activator that Japan's Bioagen made public for the first time at the Food and Culture Expo, is a typical example. When it came out, it attracted a large number of Japanese people queuing up overnight to grab the goods. Large-scale high-end products such as Mitsukoshi Isetan Stores and Japanese chain pharmacies are also following the trend and introducing sales. In the same year, large domestic e-commerce platforms such as JD.com have also invited to settle in, setting off a wave of "anti-aging" among high-net-worth individuals.

The "popularity" of this technology product is not dependent on water bears, but Harvard has discovered its value earlier.

Sinclair, a professor at Harvard, confirmed for the first time that this mitochondrial lift can "turn back the clock of life"; in 2019, Professor Shinichiro Imai from Keio University in Japan also showed in subsequent related biological experiments that the substance can even extend the life of experimental organisms 1/3 or more. Authoritative journals such as "Nature" and "Science" also explained the principle of this mitochondrial enhancer to delay aging from the perspective of activating stem cells, maintaining telomere length, and repairing DNA.

Compared with human beings who only think about activating mitochondria to achieve "long life standby" when they age and cells are damaged, it is obviously redundant in tardigrades.

Lucky tardigrades not only have the "Dusp" shield to maintain the vitality and reproductive capacity of cells, but also have the "cryptobiosis" ability, which is a more "anti-sky" operation. This ability can make the tardigrades enter a dormant state. , "dehydrates" the body and slows down metabolism to the point of almost stopping, thus protecting against extreme environments. But as long as the water is added back, the water bear can be instantly "resurrected". The two tricks of "Dusp" shield and "Hidden Life" make tardigrades the strongest animals that are not afraid of boiling, freezing and space radiation.

03. How can such a sturdy vitality be used for human beings?

Water bears are so powerful that scientists are racking their brains to find other values.

First of all, the activation of mitochondria behind water bears can make life "extremely long standby", and has already received good market feedback in the market: many consumers on the e-commerce platform mainly JD.com said that "the body is full of vitality after taking it at a reasonable price" ", "Sleep better"... There are even rumors that even Musk's girlfriend, Grimes, who immigrated to Mars, is taking related substances to maintain youth.

But scientists are not satisfied with this. Some researchers believe that tardigrades can be used to revive frozen humans because of the feature that they can 'feign death' and 'resurrection' even in extreme cold.

If we can find a way to help the body resist the cold, it can resurrect those "frozen people". However, as soon as this idea came out, some professionals objected that it was against human ethics and was unrealizable, because "the reason why water bears can withstand extreme environments is not only because of their genetic advantages, but also because of their small size."

Even if there are objections, there are still a lot of scientists who study tardigrades and hope that they can be used to revive frozen human bodies, and Thomas Boothby, a Ph. After a while, those who are still in the freezer can be resurrected." At present, there are more than 500 cases of frozen people around the world eagerly waiting to be awakened.

However, there is still no consensus in the academic community for this experiment, which touches human ethics and is difficult to implement. Professionals said that tardigrades can provide ideas for resurrecting frozen people, but it will take at least ten years or more with current technological means.

In any case, for this kind of technology, it seems to be quite worth looking forward to.