Keeping up with the Immortal Jellyfish: Biological Immortality in Animals and Humans

Abstract

Biological immortality is the state in which organisms do not die of intrinsic aging or the natural breakdown of cells over time. Although biological immortality is not currently the reality in humans, as our rate of mortality increases as we age, interestingly enough, biological immortality has been observed throughout the animal kingdom in organisms including the Hydra flatworm, Turritopsis dohrnii jellyfish, lobsters, and tardigrades. To achieve the shared goal of biological immortality, however, the aforementioned organisms employ various different mechanisms ranging from controlling FoxO gene expression to reversibly halting metabolism. The following paper overviews this variety of mechanisms to evaluate the question: “Is it possible for humans to become biologically immortal?”