Glow in the Dark Jellyfish...

macygrace

I just ran across something about glow in the dark jellyfish. The interesting thing is ....they live forever. The interesting part is WHAT  they do to accomplish this. So, my next step was to google, cancer research from jellyfish. I ran out of time...and have only found info dating to 2011. So far, this is what I've found. Gotta run for now.....

http://www.top5ofanything.com/index.php?h=ab681cad 

Technically the immortal jellyfish is
quite probably the longest living creature because it can potentially live
forever. According a recent study the immortal jellyfish (scientific name:
Turritopsis dohrnii) transforms itself from an adult back into a baby through a
process known as "transdifferentiation", in which one type of cell transforms
into another. The jellyfish can repeat this process over and over again into
infinity (though likely only as an emergency measure). When starvation, physical
damage, or other crises arise, instead of certain death, Turritopsis transforms
all of its existing cells into a younger state.

http://www.ausmedindustry.com.au/2011/08/australian-research-using-glow-in-the-dark-jellyfish-to-look-for-cancer-cure/?proceed=2

macygrace

I finally had the time to look into what I was trying to convey in above  post.  Transdifferentiation has nothing to do with what I initially thought.

Cancer Fighter?
What impact the jellyfish are having on their new ecosystems is still
unknown and requires further study, Miglietta said.
Another mystery is how the jellyfish achieve their remarkable age reversal.
Miglietta speculates that the creatures have very effective cellular repair
mechanisms that allow them to age without incurring the usual ravages of time.
Miglietta dismissed news reports from
this week that implied the jellyfish could hold a key to anti-aging drugs for
humans.
"Nobody is looking into that," she said, "and I don't think you're going to
find any secrets in these creatures."
But while they won't yield the next Botox, the jellyfish just might help
fight one of human health's greatest threats-cancer-according to biologist Stefano Piraino of the
University of Salento in Italy.
Like cancer cells, "some cells of this jellyfish that were supposed to
[die] ... are able to switch off some genes and to switch on some other genes,
reactivating genetic programs that were used in earlier stages of the life
cycle," Piraino said.
By studying how exactly the immortal jellyfish's cells do that, he said,
scientists may find clues for the struggle against that other silent, rapidly
expanding invader.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/01/090130-immortal-jellyfish-swarm.html