The Living Eternal Hydra

In the ancient Greek myth, Hydra known as many-headed monster. He is unique and tough, because each one head is cut, it grows again two new chief as his successor.
The figure of 'monster' it turns out there in the real world. The animals were named after the imaginary animal was not less unique and resilient.
A recent study revealed that hydra - slim freshwater polyp - the possibility to live together forever, without aging.
According to recent research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dec. 7, unlike most other multicellular animals, hydra does not show signs of aging with age.
"I started early experiments with a view to proving that the hydra is impossible not to experience discovery," said Daniel Martinez, a researcher who is also a biologist Pomona College, as quoted by Live Science, "The data is there to prove that I am wrong - twice . "
Eternal life
Hydra is a group of invertebrates that are shaped like small tubes, with tentacles that protrude from one end of his body. With a length that only about 10 millimeters, hydra living with eating animals smaller water from it.
The 'monster' hydra known as regeneratifnya capabilities. Martinez explained that most of the body's cells are stem cells hydra. These cells are able to divide continuously and develop into any type of cell in the body of the hydra.
In humans, the cells 'totipotent' of this kind - can flourish and turn into any cell - there's only when the first days of embryonic development. Instead, Hydra constantly renew their body with new cells.
In 1998, Martinez and his colleagues published a study that explains that they did not find signs of aging in adult hydra during an interval of 4 years.
To detect aging, researchers studied 'senescence' which is defined as an increase in the rate of mortality and fertility declines with age. Research in 1998 it could not ascertain whether the hydra fertility declines with age.
In the latest study, the researchers created a sort of island like a paradise for 2,256 hydra. The goal is to provide an ideal environment and living conditions for the animals, by feeding on their own every hydra, changing the water three times a week, and eat shrimp menu plus fresh seawater.
For 8 years, the researchers did not find any evidence of aging on the hydra-hydra. The death rate per year to survive in the figure of one for every 167 hydra, no matter how old they are.
(Hydra 'oldest' under study is the result of clones that have been aged about 41 years - even though every animal just studied for eight years, some of which are biologically older because it is the result of genetic clones.) Similar is the case with a fertility rate remains constant throughout time at 80 percent of the hydra-hydra.
The remaining 20 percent of fertility fluctuated up and down, most likely due to laboratory conditions.
"I believe that an individual hydra can live forever in appropriate conditions," said Martinez.
In the wild, disease, predators and pollution of the water often kill the hydra before it had reached the level of immortality. However, the present invention is suing the old model that considers all the animals doomed to aging over time.
This means that by examining the 'monster', scientists can unravel the mystery of why almost all animals aging.
"I hope this study could encourage other scientists to examine more deeply about this eternity," said Martinez, "maybe (examine) some other organisms that could help shed light on this mystery of aging."

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