This Animal Can Reverse Its Age and Live Forever

This animal dies. Then it turns back into a baby, and starts its life all over again. And it can do it forever. Meet Turritopsis dohrnii, the immortal jellyfish, a tiny creature no bigger than your fingernail that can reverse its whole life cycle, from adult medusa back to baby polyp, using a process called transdifferentiation. In this video you will learn how it was discovered in Italy in the 1990s, what triggers its reversal, why it is still not invincible, how it compares with the Greenland shark and tortoises, and what scientists hope to learn about aging and cancer from its cells. But be careful: immortal does not mean invincible. Predators, disease and accidents can still kill it before it gets a chance to reverse. Subscribe to WildShocks for more shocking wildlife stories. Chapters: 0:00 Hook - the animal that dies and starts again 0:17 Meet the immortal jellyfish 0:36 Normal jellyfish life cycle 0:53 The reverse trick 1:10 Transdifferentiation explained 1:26 Second, third and fourth lives 1:41 Discovered in Italy 1:57 Starvation trigger 2:13 Injury and old age 2:27 Twist - not invincible 2:42 Eaten before it can reverse 2:58 Compared with sharks and tortoises 3:13 Why it does not take over every ocean 3:29 What scientists learn about aging 3:44 Cancer and controlled cell change 3:59 Human medicine - hope and limits 4:15 Mapping its genes 4:30 Travelling by ship 4:46 Nature goes backwards 5:01 Payoff - age as a loop 5:17 Simple body, no brain, no heart, no bones 5:35 Transparent bell and tiny sting 5:46 Polyp colonies 5:59 DNA repair genes 6:11 Hydra and other age cheats 6:25 Warming seas and new oceans 6:41 When reversal fails 6:55 Subscribe - what age would you choose?