Strange creature that cheats death discovered: it could hold the secret of immortality

Imagine an animal so resilient, it can literally rewind its own life. That’s exactly what scientists have discovered in a strange jelly-like sea creature that seems to defy the natural rules of aging—and might hold clues to biological immortality.

A new international study has revealed that the Mnemiopsis leidyi, more commonly known as the warty comb jelly, is capable of reversing its life cycle, returning from adulthood to a juvenile state when injured or starved. Researchers believe this may be one of nature’s rarest survival hacks—one that could one day help us better understand human aging, regeneration, or even extend life itself.

The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, come from a team led by marine biologist Joan J. Soto-Angel of the University of Bergen in Norway, alongside molecular biologist Pawel Burkhardt.

A creature that regenerates by rewinding time

To observe this bizarre behavior, the team placed 65 adult comb jellies in tanks without food for over two weeks. The conditions were harsh, but the results were stunning.

Rather than simply deteriorating, 13 of the jellies began to shrink and morph back into their larval form—essentially rebooting their lives.

“Witnessing how they slowly transition to a typical cydippid larva, as if they were going back in time, was simply fascinating,” said Soto-Angel.

The more damage, the faster the recovery

In the second part of the experiment, scientists surgically removed the lobes—gelatinous structures crucial to the jelly’s body shape—from 15 adult comb jellies to simulate traumatic injury.

The outcome shocked researchers: six of the jellies fully regenerated in just 15 days. By comparison, seven others from a group of 50 jellies that had not been lobotomized took up to six weeks to recover.

The takeaway? The more severe the damage, the faster the regeneration.

“It will be interesting to reveal the molecular mechanism driving reverse development,” said Burkhardt, “and what happens to the animal’s nerve net during this process.”

“This fascinating finding will open the door for many important discoveries,” he added.

How the warty comb jelly compares to the so-called ‘immortal jellyfish’

This isn’t the first sea creature to puzzle scientists with its ability to cheat death. The Turritopsis dohrnii, better known as the immortal jellyfish, has famously been studied for its natural ability to revert to its juvenile polyp stage—again and again.

But there’s a key difference: while Turritopsis dohrnii resets its life cycle as a natural part of its aging process, the warty comb jelly only seems to undergo its life-reversing transformation in response to extreme trauma or starvation.

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