Scientists may have casually stumbled upon immortality through severed tissues that linger on the line between life and death. The amputated fragment of a sea cucumber has survived for more than three years while being kept in untreated seawater, according to a CNN report, and is healing itself and absorbing nutrients without a mouth. The research appears in a new study published in Science Advances. The torn-off tissues far outlived the length of the experiment, so while the researchers eventually had to call it quits, the severed sample could’ve seemingly gone on forever as it showed no sign of degradation or decay. Underwater zombie Sara Jobson Psolus fabricii, a type of sea cucumber found in the cold waters of the Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean, is known for its highly-regenerative properties. The same way that salamanders and starfish can regrow their lost limbs, the sea cucumber is also able to regenerate a tentacle or tube foot. But what happens to the discarded appendages? Scientists have always assumed that the detached limbs would decay on their own.
The researchers behind the study, led by Sara Jobson, a doctoral student at Memorial University of Newfoundland, wanted to examine how the torn-off tissues would fare after they were detached. To do so, they removed small bits from the sea cucumber’s feet, tentacles, and main body and placed them in seawater.
