Medusa or Jellyfish

Turritopsis nutricula or immortal jellyfish are also called Medusa. They are believed to originate in the Caribbean. They are spread all over the world nowadays and pose a potential danger.

I remember that when I was stung by a jelly fish, it was in New Smyrna beach Florida. It was a sting that was merciful but so painful. I was told to put some salt on it and then, some vinegar. I passed. I licked my wound and continued to swim every after noon. I often watched the jelly fish that were washed to shore and hated them. However, I was stung again.

I almost forgot about them until it was brought to my attention that jellyfish are immortal. After reaching sexual maturity, jellyfish revert back to the colonial stage of sexual immaturity.

The Medusa umbrella revert itself, tentacles and mesoglea get reabsorbed. The reverted Medusa attaches itself to the substance of it's umbrella opposite pole and start giving rise to new polyps that form the new colony.

It does that by the process of transdifferentiation. It is a process where none stem cell transforms into a different cell., it is a cell faith switch. Theoretically, the process can go on indefinitely rendering the Medusa immortal.

Not all jellyfish are immortal in nature yet all jellyfish are immortal in potential.

Pretty interesting is the fact that the world is in danger of giant jellyfish invasion.

The female Medusa carries the eggs in the stomach and the male Medusa fertilizes those eggs that sink into the ocean floor in the plaula larvae stage. The eggs develop into a polyp colonies. The hydroids buds new jellyfish in the size of 1 mm that grow into maturity withing a few weeks depending on the ocean temperature. Interesting to note that some jellyfish are hermaphroditic and carry a sperm and an egg both released into the ocean water.

Jellyfish have no brain or nervous system but they do have loose nerves system located at the epidermis which is called nerve net. The jellyfish detect stimulus from the external environment with the nerve net. They also do not breath but rather their body is oxygenated through the skin by diffusion.

Some jellyfish can detect light and dark but mainly they do not have 'sight'.

They clog ships, eat fish eggs and young fish, and in general are a hazard to nuclear power plants.

The mucus may be potentially used for saliva, dry eyes condition and gastronomic juice.

Processing jellyfish entails a process of 20 to 40 days, where the gonads and mucus are removed and the umbrella and the oral arms are treated with salt and alum. The jellyfish are then compressed and retain only about 7-10 percent of their body weight. They become crunchy and acidic.

In China, those dried jellyfish pieces are soaked overnight in order to remove some of the salt and then eaten raw or cooked with oil, vinegar or soy sauce dressing.

Dried jellyfish contains 7% protein and the rest is water.

Yum.

GFB, green florecent protein was extracted from jellyfish on 1961 and more bioluminescent protein called aequorin. Three decades later that protein was cloned and from there on genetic enginnering had managed to insert GFB into other cells and organisms.

In 2008 Chalfie and Tsien won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the work they did with GFB.

Another use for jellyfish is the extractrtion of collagen that is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

.

Immortal as they are, Jellyfish are more likely to be hunted and eaten, or fall prey to diseases, but Dr. Maria Pia Miglietta, a scientist from the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute warns about world wide silent invasion.

Ouch.

Pass the salt please, will you?

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/invertebrates-animals/other-invertebrates/jellyfish.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula

 www.beafraidofadentist.com

www.tmjnonomore.com

www.tkumah.com