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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/13816618

Scientists Put Tardigrade Proteins Into Human Cells. Here's What Happened.

Freeze 'em, heat 'em, blast them into empty space; with survival skills unlike any other organism on the planet, those hardy critters known as tardigrades will only come back for more.

Tardigrades have already shown they can survive hot and cold temperatures and high levels of radiation that would be fatal to human beings, and long periods without any water – normally so essential to life. They can even survive in space.

Previous research has revealed an impressive number of tricks that tardigrades use to stay alive, built up over hundreds of millions of years. Essentially, they're very good at slowing the processes of life right down with the help of CAHS D, and that could be useful in human cells too.

Amazingly, when we introduce these proteins into human cells, they gel and slow down metabolism, just like in tardigrades.

Early signs are promising in several areas, including the way the proteins are smartly activated when environmental stress is present, and deactivated when it isn't.

When the stress is relieved, the tardigrade gels dissolve, and the human cells return to their normal metabolism.

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[-] jak@sopuli.xyz 43 points 7 months ago
[-] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 20 points 7 months ago

You got Tardigrade in my Human!

You got Human in my Tardigrade!

[-] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 19 points 7 months ago

Stamets did WHAT?!

[-] Infynis@midwest.social 31 points 7 months ago

Looks like we are on track for the Eugenics Wars after all

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago
[-] gregorum@lemm.ee 3 points 7 months ago

How’s your tennis game, Doctor?

[-] Taleya@aussie.zone 2 points 7 months ago

Garak has entered the chat

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

Well, hello there!

[-] gnate@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

Maybe even before the Irish Unification.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 30 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Ok, so is this the prequel to Discovery or the prequel to Space Seed?

[-] kaitco@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago
[-] PlasticExistence@lemmy.world 29 points 7 months ago

"When you put human cells that have these proteins into biostasis, they become more resistant to stresses, conferring some of the tardigrades' abilities to the human cells."

[-] jpreston2005@lemmy.world 13 points 7 months ago

Through harnessing tardigrade proteins, we could potentially alleviate damaging effects of long-term stasis on the human body, which is one of the key inventions necessary for true interplanetary travel/space exploration. The other, would be stable cold fusion.

I still hope to see these problems solved within my lifetime

[-] pmmeyourtits@ani.social 2 points 7 months ago

What do you mean by Cold Fusion?

[-] TheRealLinga@sh.itjust.works 12 points 7 months ago

Maybe this research will become how we travel long distances in space?

[-] LostWon@lemmy.ca 9 points 7 months ago

This is as interesting as the time I learned from an expert talking about research into aging that technically younger animals (and likely people) can experience aging if they're injected with the blood of an older counterpart, suggesting (among other arguments he made) not just that it's "contagious" but that aging should be treatable and youthful physical health could be extendable to longer ages.

[-] jpreston2005@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago

Alternatively, you can have rejuvenating effects on cells by injecting older patients with a young persons blood.

It's cool, but any time I start thinking about it, I end up flooded with horrible depictions of dystopian levels of abuse that's likely to result from this becoming a trend among the uber-rich.

[-] ArtieShaw@fedia.io 5 points 7 months ago

Twenty years ago my grandmother was dying of old age. She didn't have any specific disease or diagnosis. She was just 92 and her body was shutting down. Whenever she was hospitalized for general organ failure they would give her a blood infusion and she would rebound.

Yes, everyone in the family made the same grim vampire jokes.

No one asked for her to receive this treatment, and she was definitely not well off financially. Her treatment was entirely driven by the medical staff. The only money being collected was through Medicare.

In retrospect, I'm more than half-way wondering if they were collecting data.

[-] MotoAsh@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

It already is. They just don't advertise it because duh.

[-] littlebluespark@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

You're almost awake, citizen. Keep going.

[-] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

The current zeitgeist is using young pig plasma (no antigens for rejection), so if that pans out, less vampire dystopia, more bacon... Eventually they'll isolate the needed factors, and it'll be an x-monthly shot, and then a pill.

[-] sexy_peach@feddit.de 7 points 7 months ago
[-] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 12 points 7 months ago

But actually what they did, so, not really.

[-] littlebluespark@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

Considering your username and the absolute lack of any sexy peaches, I'm left to presume you mean the opposite. 🤔

this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2024
86 points (93.9% liked)

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