Scientists Uncover 'Immortal' Sea Creature That Can 'Time Travel' Through Its Life Stages

A fascinating sea creature has achieved something humans have been dreaming of for generations—reversing the aging process. This groundbreaking discovery has opened new doors for scientific exploration.

Biohacker Bryan Johnson, who has been widely recognized for his experiments aimed at halting aging, has spent millions of dollars trying to achieve what this sea creature seems to manage naturally. Johnson recently underwent an intense procedure involving the injection of 300 million stem cells into his joints, all to enhance his bone mineral density.

Yet, as scientists have discovered, comb jellies have found a far simpler, painless, and elegant way of defying age and reverting to earlier stages of life.

These remarkable marine organisms, known as comb jellies or ctenophores, are scientifically referred to as Mnemiopsis leidyi. They have been dubbed 'immortal' in light of recent research. Much like the famous Turritopsis dohrnii—another species renowned for its "immortality"—comb jellies are capable of reverting from their adult medusa form back to their polyp stage.

The details of this discovery were recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings challenge long-held beliefs about how animal life cycles function and hint at unexplored possibilities in the natural world.

Comb jellies are typically found on the eastern coasts of the Americas Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images

Joan J. Soto-Angel, a postdoctoral fellow with the Manet Team in the Department of Natural History at the University of Bergen, commented on the discovery: "The work challenges our understanding of early animal development and body plans, opening new avenues for the study of life cycle plasticity and rejuvenation."

He continued: "The fact that we have found a new species that uses this peculiar 'time-travel machine' raises fascinating questions about how spread this capacity is across the animal tree of life."

Interestingly, like many groundbreaking discoveries, Soto-Angel stumbled upon this peculiar life cycle completely by chance, leading to a deeper investigation into this mysterious species.

The Turritopsis dohrnii was thought to be the only marine life that could reverse the aging process Yiming Chen/Getty Stock

Soto-Angel's curiosity was sparked when he observed something puzzling in a tank—an adult ctenophore appeared to have vanished, seemingly replaced by a larva. This surprising observation led him and his colleague, Pawel Burkhardt, who heads a research group at the Michael SARS Centre at the University of Bergen, to explore whether the larva was actually the same organism as the adult that had disappeared.

Through rigorous experimentation, they found that when subjected to conditions such as starvation or physical injury, the comb jelly displayed an extraordinary ability. It could shift from its adult lobate form back to its earlier cydippid larval stage, essentially reversing its life cycle.

The unique creature may be able to 'time travel', scientists say Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images

"Witnessing how they slowly transition to a typical cydippid larva as if they were going back in time, was simply fascinating," Soto-Angel recalled with amazement.

He added: "Over several weeks, they not only reshaped their morphological features, but also had a completely different feeding behavior, typical of a cydippid larva."

Burkhardt, reflecting on the implications of their findings, remarked that this is "a very exciting time for us," signaling the potential for further groundbreaking studies in the future.