The comb jellyfish, such an interesting sea creature, that gets a little more interesting when one finds out the capabilities this little guy holds. When one of these jellies is cut up, they begin go regrow at amazing speed and some even develop rudimentary brains. An article on natureworldnews.com goes onto explain how researchers are attempting to use these sea creatures to further our knowledge in the regeneration of the spinal cord. Comb jellies are only about the size of a golf ball and actually get their name from the tiny comb-like hairs they use to swim. Researchers are attempting to find out how what gene these creatures turn off and on while they are performing these regenerative mechanisms. These jellyfish can even regenerate their elementary brain in about three to five days if need be which makes them even more interesting. Using a genomic sequencing machine these researchers are trying to understand these sea creatures so that we can one day be able to regenerate our brains and spinal cords. If this were possible, then it would completely change our medical world and open up doors never thought possible. These ideas seem far-fetched but this is one in many studies that is attempting to understand regenerative mechanisms, so a breakthrough could be right around the corner.
Personally, I love jellyfish, they are pretty cool looking organisms to begin with, and then stuff like this gets discovered and they become even better in my book. It would be incredible if scientists found a way to translate the genes that the jellyfish use to regenerate to humans. The possibilities would be endless, and I hope that they have some luck in finding the mechanism that would make that possible.
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