Tardigrade

Tardigrades are fascinating organisms that the greater understanding of has potential to lead to advances in medicine, such as by allowing for increased tolerance of radiation in human cells (Hashimoto et al. 2016), and the cryopreservation of organs for transplantation (Kletetschka and Hruba 2015). Perhaps, it may even allow living people to be preserved so that they may undergo long-distance space travel without aging, and thereby may enable colonization of other planets. Anything that may facilitate greater understanding of these organisms and their physiology can provide valuable information for these areas of study. Tardigrades, also known as water bears or moss piglets, are small animals, about 0.5 mm in length of the phylum Tardigradia.…

space but it cannot survive there without the necessary induced conditions. Only lichen and mosses have survived the vacuum of space and UV radiations yet. Imagine if you could survive the space without these conditions! Tardigrade (Water Bear), a water dwelling, 8 legged, segmented micro-animal has survived the space without any protection. They are prevalent in mosses and lichen and have a lifespan of a year. Tardigrades were discovered by Johann August Ephiran George. The name means “slow…

disasters including an ice age and a period of extensive solar radiation, the tardigrade, one of nature’s “extremophiles”, was able to evolve physically to the extent where the microscopic organism can decrease its metabolism to a miniscule amount making it able to survive whatever conditions it faces. As it is unknown to how the tardigrade was able to evolve to that extent, a plausible answer is contingency, a theory that evolution sometimes occurs by chance. Lastly, the tardigrade parallels…

In late 2015, scientists found that the best borrowers are not, in fact, the characters of the 1997 movie, but microscopic animals called water bears. Water bears, more specifically named tardigrades, are found to have scavenged about 17.5% of their genes from other creatures. This ability to obtain used genes from other creatures’ discarded DNA is found to let tardigrades undergo extreme stress. And not just homework stress. Tardigrades live in water, and have to be submerged to survive.…

Water bears are hearty creatures, which inspire people to create useful things, such as the development of a special type of glass and a refrigerator-free form of storage. Water bears are tardigrades, and their hardiness has been put to the test. There are 900 known species of tardigrades. Water bears are also known as moss piglets. German pastor Johann August Ephraim Goeze discovered them in 1776 and named them tardigrade kleiner wasserbar, which means little water bear in German. They were…

resistant to radiation is by using a gene found in certain animals that makes them more resistant to any types of radiation. Other context in this article are that the gene specifically used to create more resistance is called a tardigrade. These are also known as the “tough creature”. They are very resistant to extreme cold and dryness. Tardigrades are one of the main genes used that will help humans become more resistant to space, since space is very cold as very dry. The way that these…

Generally, when they are in an active state, meaning they crawl, eat, reproduce, etc, they are the toughest animals alive. When exposed to extreme conditions, the Tardigrade exhibit an extreme answer to the stresses called cryptobiosis, or anabiosis. When in this state, their metabolism cannot be detected. They can continue to be exposed to extremely high X-ray radiation, as high as 570,000 rads. They appear unaffected by very high pressures or vacuum. These animals can handle temperatures…

The king of extreme temperatures, tardigrades can withstand temperatures higher than 302 degrees Fahrenheit, The National Geographic claims. However, human cells begin to denature around a third of that temperature. It was in the perceived life-threatening emergency that kindled one of my proudest moments. On a blazing Monday afternoon, I followed my typical routine driving to the hospital for the 4 to 6 pm volunteer shift. In the surgery waiting room, a TV was playing quietly in the corner…

Unlike most organisms, they are able to use their own enzymes to digest plant biopolymers such as cellulose or lignin. Collagen, an abundant structural protein in animals, and keratin—a protein that forms hair and nails—, can also serve as food sources. Enzymes secreted by molds also provide resistance to phagocytosis even some also represents several carnivorous fungi, which have developed hyphal traps to capture small protists such as amoebae, as well as roundworms(Nematoda), rotifers,…

that is not all! In the cold side of space, where earth blocks out the sun, the temperature is at least -455 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature would freeze a polar bear in less than 30 minutes. In the warm side of space, the region between the earth and the sun, the temperature is at least 250 degrees Fahrenheit. We know that a desert tortoise has one of the highest records of surviving extreme heat. If you were to place this turtle in the warm side of space, the solar radiations would fry…