Worm "light": Burning half as bright and twice as long. The key to immortality?

[HBDiveGirl]

No rush to photograph that gorgeous marine flatworm... it'll look that good forever!


Thanks to Gizmodo for sharing the Why's and Wherefore's of the Great Flatworm Mystery: Immortality... and eternal youth (aka "negligible senescence".)

All the info is HERE.

In a DNA-sized nutshell: key parts of the flatworms DNA doesn't "fray" during cell division.
It's the normal fraying of the strand ends, or teleomeres, that results in poor copying as the years pass.

Bad DNA copying = aging, wrinkles, joint pain, presbyopia....the whole Not-For-Sissies complex:



Flatworms, however, make perfect copies forever, repairing their own DNA strands while they repair and replace anything that gets damaged.
Forever.

Gorgeous today.
Gorgeous tomorrow.
Gorgeous forever....or until eaten.
The Twinkie Scenario.


So next time you see marine flatworms, show a little respect for your perfect elders.

~~~~~
Claudette

[TobinGeorge]

Good stuff. Tricky little worms....

Tobin

[HBDiveGirl]

Good stuff. Tricky little worms....

Tobin

I KNOW!!!!

Ooozing about, all nonchalant, carrying the secret to unchanging, immortal DNA.

Of course, they are still worms.
Can't fix platyhelminthesnessness.

~C~

[kelpseeker]

Gorgeous forever....or until eaten.
The Twinkie Scenario.

Of course, they are still worms.
Can't fix platyhelminthesnessness.

Awesome!

[DLDirect]

Who would have guessed that flatworms would make Gizmodo, I always dismissed them as simplistic organisms, I guess the flatworms will have the last laugh (once I'm gone).

[HBDiveGirl]

Who would have guessed that flatworms would make Gizmodo, I always dismissed them as simplistic organisms, I guess the flatworms will have the last laugh (once I'm gone).

But first...they have to learn how to laugh.

hmmm....what if they DO know how to laugh and we just can't tell?

I saw one tiny flatworm diving at Anacapa Island last weekend...too tiny to successfully show my buddy!... and this story filled my head.

"Wow....that little flat thing there? It's not aging."
"I'm aging."
"It's not."

"But..... I have a scooter."
"I win."

For now. ;-)

~~~~~
Claudette

[Valéry]

Heuu if it's not aging how does it die?

[HBDiveGirl]

Heuu if it's not aging how does it die?

According to the researchers, flatworms die when eaten or so severely damaged that there isn't enough worm left to regenerate the damaged parts.

But apparently, the parts themselves don't wear out.

They don't grow larger after reaching full size, so are not limited by scaling of their physiological systems.

It's a weird take on life.

For a illuminating (and disturbing) take on potential effects of non-aging "immortality" in humans, check out the novel by Drew Magary, "The Postmortal".

It's a great antidote to worrying about wrinkles, sore joints, and the other thousand slings and arrows of human aging.

~~~~~
Claudette