A new study has found signs of biological immortality in a marine animal called Psolus fabricii, a sea cucumber from the cold Atlantic Ocean whose detached body parts survived and grew independently for more than three years.
Researchers found that tissue removed from this species healed itself, reorganized internally, and continued living without any lab conditions or added nutrients, a finding that has no known parallel in scientific literature.
The study, published in Science Advances, was led by Sara Jobson of the Department of Ocean Sciences at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Researchers removed several tissue types from the sea cucumber, including tube feet, groups of tube feet called ambulacra, tentacles, and body wall sections. Three of those four tissue types survived long-term. Deep body wall sections decayed within 37 days, and shallow body wall sections lasted 54 days.
Tube feet, ambulacra, and tentacles all healed and continued living well beyond the formal one-year study period, with monitoring extending past three years. Some explants survived even while buried under roughly 10 millimeters of mud in holding tanks.
Sea cucumber tissue rewrites what marine animal immortality means
The tissue pieces, named “LiPfe” or living immortal P. fabricii explants, followed a clear healing sequence. In the first week, damaged cells shed from wound edges and surrounding tissue curled inward to seal the opening.
By day six, all wounds had fully closed. Tube feet shrank 23 percent in the first week, recovered to their original size within two to four months, and eventually grew larger than before removal.
Immune cells called coelomocytes drove much of the healing. They migrated to wound sites, cleared damaged material, and later appeared to digest muscle tissue entirely, likely using it as an internal nutrient source.
Separately, the tissue also absorbed dissolved amino acids directly from the surrounding seawater, showing it could feed itself from its environment. Researchers tested tissue from six other echinoderm species, including sea urchins, sea stars, and other sea cucumbers.
None survived beyond 104 days. Special chemical compounds unique to P. fabricii, called psolusosides, may give this species superior infection resistance that others lack.
Detached tentacles continued moving with intact nerve function
Tentacle explants showed one additional striking behavior. They continued extending and retracting in response to physical touch, suggesting that nerve function remained active in completely detached tissue.
Researchers say the purpose of this survival ability is unclear, possibly a defense response to predators or simply an evolutionary trait.
These immortal marine animal tissue pieces, they add, could eventually serve as an ethical model for studying healing, aging, and drug testing.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
