Recently, there have been discoveries on multiple organisms preventing the effects of aging for an extended period of time. Some can even suspend their aging forever and go through an entirely different life cycle. 

There are some species in particular that are very well-known for their ability to stop aging. Like the “immortal jellyfish” and the lobster. Robert Barnhill biology teacher here at the school had some ideas on this.

“More of my students tend to know about the jellyfish than about the lobsters,“ Barnhill said.

There are also some animals that are less known for their ability to stop aging for a considerable amount of time. One of these is the yellow-bellied marmot.

A new study demonstrated that the yellow-bellied marmot can slow their aging while in hibernation. These marmots can almost stop their aging completely for the seven to eight months that they hibernate.

The Turritopsis Dohrnii also known as the “immortal jellyfish” can turn into its beginning form. To show how crazy this really is, this is like an adult turning back into a baby. This article has more information on this. 

Whenever this jellyfish faces any kind of life-threatening struggles like a wound or starvation it can retrograde itself back to a ball of tissue.

All of these different species that stop aging use different ways to stop aging. Barnhill knows more on this. 

 “No I don’t believe so, the lobsters do not use the telomeres and if I remember correctly the jellyfish… [stop aging by] cell regeneration,” Barnhill said 

Some researchers have speculated that it may be possible to carry over these techniques to help stop the aging process of humans. Barnhill has his own thoughts on the likelihood of this occurring. 

“Yes, I believe that there’s a possibility they’re already looking into agents that will prevent the loss of telomeres. Telomeres are the ones that are attached to our chromosomes and as they diminish we show signs of aging,” Barnhill states.