A chunk of seemingly immortal sea cucumber tissue has scientists wondering if they\u2019ve just stumbled on the secret to regenerating limbs. No, we are not kidding.<\/p>\n
In a new study<\/a> published in the journal Science, researchers say that an amputated sample of the creature, a species called Psolus fabricii, has survived for three years while being kept in natural seawater, growing and repairing all on its own. The tissue was so hardy, in fact, that it outlasted the researchers\u2019 experiments \u2014 at which point they decided to call it quits and publish their astounding find.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is naturally occurring tissue immortality,\u201d study lead author Sara Jobson, a researcher at Memorial University of Newfoundland, told Ars Technica<\/a>. \u201cHaving tissues that survive that easily is unheard of. We\u2019ve never seen anything like this.\u201d<\/p>\n The sheer longevity of the specimen isn\u2019t the only reason it\u2019s unprecedented. Another is the fact that the sea cucumber tissue survived in ordinary seawater, an environment rife with bacteria and other microbial organisms. In previous tests, tissue samples were placed in an \u201caxenic\u201d culture that\u2019s sterilized and tightly controlled.<\/p>\n Another is that the explanted tissue is actually healing and growing. In their experiments, the researchers found signs of immune activity and tissue reorganization; the cells even appeared to be diversifying and absorbing nutrients on their own.<\/p>\n That said, the immortality it\u2019s exhibiting isn\u2019t of the science fiction vein. While persisting, the explanted tissue hasn\u2019t graduated into a new organism \u2014 and it\u2019s unclear if it\u2019s \u201calive\u201d in the traditional sense at all. It\u2019s growing and repairing, and all the biological upkeep is firing, but it lies inert and unformed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t grown a new, complete sea cucumber yet, but we are seeing pretty stunning growth and diversification of cells literally years after this tissue was removed,\u201d study coauthor Rachel Sipler, a senior research scientist at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, said in a statement<\/a> about the work. \u201cIt\u2019s like a lizard that loses its tail. We know some lizards can grow new tails; we\u2019re talking about whether the tail can grow a new lizard.\u201d<\/p>\n Biomedical researchers are already salivating at the find. Since it\u2019s an invertebrate, there\u2019s less restrictions on the research that can be performed on the organism.<\/p>\n \u201cThis discovery highlights that the ocean holds profoundly unexpected biological innovations,\u201d Andrea Bodnar, science director at Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, who wasn\u2019t involved in the work, said in the statement. \u201cThe fact that tissue explants from a sea cucumber can heal, reorganize, and survive independently for years in natural seawater suggests an entirely new model for biological resilience and tissue regeneration.\u201d<\/p>\n