This Freshwater Animal Called Hydra Doesn’t Die of Old Age or Even Age at All – And Can Even Survive Being Chopped in a Blender

An immortal animal? Well, the hydra is pretty close to it.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live forever? To never grow old, get sick or die? Well, there is a tiny creature that can do just that: the hydra. Hydra are small freshwater hydrozoans that belong to the same phylum as jellyfish and corals. They have a tubular body with a mouth surrounded by tentacles at one end, and a sticky foot at the other end that attaches to rocks, plants or other surfaces. They are only about 1 cm long, but they have some amazing abilities that make them practically immortal.

One of these abilities is regeneration. Hydra can regrow any part of their body that is damaged or lost, including their head. If you cut a hydra in half, both halves will grow into complete animals. If you chop a hydra into several pieces, each piece will become a new hydra. You can even chop them up in a blender into a soup of cells, and they will reassemble themselves into a whole organism eventually, forming a new Hydra.

They can do this because they have stem cells that can differentiate into any type of cell in their body. These stem cells are constantly renewing themselves and replacing old or damaged cells, so hydra never age biologically.

Another ability that contributes to hydra’s immortality is asexual reproduction. Hydra can produce clones of themselves by budding, which is a process where a small outgrowth forms on the side of the parent hydra and eventually detaches as a new individual. This way, hydra can increase their population without the need for mating or fertilization. Hydra can also reproduce sexually, by producing eggs and sperm, but this is less common and usually happens when the environmental conditions are unfavorable.

Hydra are fascinating creatures that have been studied by biologists for centuries. They are considered model organisms for regenerative biology and aging research, because they can reveal the secrets of how stem cells work and how some animals avoid senescence (the deterioration of biological functions with age). Hydra may also hold clues to how life evolved on Earth, since they are among the oldest multicellular animals on the planet.

Hydra are not completely invincible, though. They can still die from predation, starvation, disease or pollution. They are very sensitive to changes in their environment, and they can be affected by various chemicals and toxins that alter their growth, reproduction and behavior. Hydra are also not unique in their ability to regenerate or reproduce asexually. There are other animals that can do similar things, such as planarians (flatworms), sea stars, salamanders and some plants.

And then there’s Turritopsis dohrnii, another cnidarian (a jellyfish) that scientists believe to be immortal (really).

These remarkable species challenge us to rethink what it means to be alive and how we can extend our own lifespan and healthspan.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4