Are scientists getting closer to conquering death and resurrecting human beings who have already passed away?
Japanese scientists from the National Institute for Polar Research (NIPR) recently reported that they have successfully brought back to life a type of microscopic creature called tardigrades, also known as "water bears," which have been frozen for more than 30 years.
In an interview with Asahi Shimbun, one of the researchers, Megumu Tsujimoto, explained that his team's findings could explain how organisms can withstand or even be revived from extreme weather conditions over extended periods of time.
"We want to unravel the mechanism for long-term survival by looking into damage to tardigrades' DNA and their ability to repair it," Tsujimoto explained in an article published on the website of the Japanese newspaper.
The study took over three decades to be completed. The sample tardigrades—known for their ability to survive the harsh cold in Antarctica—were collected way back in November 1983, close to the NIPR's Syowa Station in the Antarctic.
The samples used in the research were obtained within moss, enabling them to have been preserved in a temperature of minus 20 degrees. They were thawed and given water in May 2014, and the scientists observed movements from two creatures measuring about 0.3 millimeters.
One of the creatures did not survive after 20 days. Tardigrades have a normal life span of several dozen days on the average.
The other one, however, was able to reproduce after 23 days, producing a total of 19 eggs, with 14 of these hatched. This became possible because female tardigrades can reproduce on their own.
Researchers later confirmed the creatures were native to the Antarctic by observing the offspring.
"The present study extends the known length of long-term survival in tardigrade species considerably," the researchers stated on their paper.
