Human evolution is not perfect! "Immortal" creatures have appeared in nature, with strong regenerative abilities

By using and inventing tools, human civilization has become the master of life on Earth, but this does not mean that human evolution is the most perfect among all life on Earth.

To a certain extent, humans seem to be very fragile. Even with advanced medical technology today, the maximum life span of humans is only 100 years, which is nothing compared to natural creatures that can live for hundreds or thousands of years, or even be "immortal". Humans seem to be able to find the path to "immortality" among these creatures.

The door to "immortality": aquatic animals The lifespan of aquatic animals is often longer than that of terrestrial animals. Land tortoises, which are often associated with the word "longevity", have a lifespan far shorter than the following aquatic animals.

The American Fun Science website once counted ten animals with strong survival ability, among which there is a bowhead whale that is over 200 years old. A scientific team from the United States and Britain studied the ability of bowhead whales in 2015. They found that two gene mutations of bowhead whales can repair damaged DNA, protect against cancer, and slow down the aging rate of organisms.

Other species with the same lifespan as the bowhead whale include the Aleutian scorpionfish, freshwater pearl oysters, Greenland sharks, deep-sea tube worms, and Arctic clams, whose average lifespans are over 200 to 500 years.

In 2006, scientists caught an Arctic clam on the coast of Iceland. Due to improper protection measures during the research, the Arctic clam died accidentally. However, in subsequent research and analysis, scientists confirmed that the Arctic clam was born around 1499 AD and was 507 years old.

1499 was the twelfth year of the Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty in my country, so scientists also named this Arctic clam "Ming".

It is hard to imagine that when your ancestors of more than ten or twenty generations have passed away, the creatures born in the same era as them will still be alive and well.

Although the slow-growing Arctic clam looks impressive, it is no match for the immortal Turritopsis dohrnii and hydra.

The survival ability of the Turritopsis dohrnii and hydra is almost amazing, so the Turritopsis dohrnii is also called the immortal jellyfish. According to the American Museum of Natural History and the Natural History Museum in London, the immortal jellyfish will turn into a polyp when it is injured or starving, and the polyp state will sustain its life and it can turn back into a jellyfish.

Repeatedly reversing their life cycle means that they can live forever under certain conditions. The only regret is that immortal jellyfish are often eaten by small fish and shrimp, and the road to immortality is often full of thorns and bumps.

Similarly, hydra, which is mainly composed of stem cells, can also regenerate by constantly replicating. Even if only a small part of the body is left, it can regenerate the entire body in a few days. So far, scientists have not found any signs of aging in hydra.

Humans: Technology will allow people to evolve again. These aquatic animals' almost insurmountable survival abilities contrast with the fragility of human abilities. Some scientists believe that human evolution has reached its limit, while others believe that technological progress can lead to human evolution again.

When Musk proposed brain-computer technology a few years ago, it caused a heated discussion among the public. He believed that through invasive brain-computer technology, humans could master the ability to control electronic devices with their minds. When the technology matures, humans can put their brains on robots alone and get rid of the troubles of diseases in the form of "human-machine integration".

Even if this scientific fantasy cannot be realized, brain-computer technology can allow humans to live in a virtual world as virtual humans, allowing humans to evolve from carbon-based life to silicon-based life.

There are many crazy evolution pioneers like Musk, including David Sinclair of Harvard University's Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging. However, the "evolution" advocated by David Sinclair is undoubtedly much softer than Musk's, and his focus is more on improving human capabilities.

Humans can obtain a variety of elements from nature to make up for their own deficiencies. For example, ingredients in plants such as herbs can enhance human immunity and even repair cells, which is why human survival has been extended after the improvement of medical technology.

David Sinclair has published his research results in top academic journals such as Cell: NAD+ molecules, which have excellent performance in intervening biological aging, have been proven in biological experiments to stabilize telomeres, activate mitochondria, and PARP enzymes, which can reverse aging indicators and extend biological survival by 30%. In the eight-year research, the molecule has completed human trials under the promotion of universities such as the University of Washington, the University of Tokyo, and Yingke University.

NAD+ is the abbreviation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. In the study and experiment on the life span of mice, it was found that as the mice age, the NAD+ in the body will gradually decrease, which is the reason for the gradual increase of DNA damage. Once enough NAD+ is supplemented, the aging process of mice can be quickly reversed. Therefore, the conclusion is that NAD+ has the function of regulating proteins and their interactions in the process of gene repair, delaying the aging process of the body to a certain extent, and also has anti-cancer and anti-radiation effects.

Due to David Sinclair's outstanding contributions in this field, he was selected as one of the 100 most influential people in the era by Time magazine in 2014 and was awarded two Knights of the Order of Australia by Australia, which shows the importance that humans attach to intervening in aging.

In addition, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, fruit and vegetable tycoon Murdoch, Facebook founder Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Bezos and other giants are exploring the path of human "re-evolution" in different fields. Some are working towards eradicating polio, some are building cell maps, and some are setting up the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.

It is still unknown whether humans can learn new evolution from nature, but we believe that the science of revealing the secret of human longevity will always make a breakthrough. The core of Darwin's theory of evolution is the survival of the fittest, and humans win by constantly optimizing themselves.

But humans are the only species among living things that do not rely solely on natural evolution, but believe that science will bring changes to themselves, which is why they have become the masters of Earth civilization.