tardigrades indestructible animals
By: Lionel Perez Valenzuela
The tardigrades are very little known, but they are the toughest animals on the planet and a lot of difference. Able to withstand extreme temperatures, as high as 180 degrees Celsius for a few minutes, or tempearture near absolute zero (-272 degrees Celsius or -200 degrees minutes for days). With regard to radiation tolerance is equally extreme, can withstand 5,700 grays (1 gray = 100 Rad). One gray is equivalent to 5,000 x-rays, 10-20 grays easily kill humans and most animals. Japanese scientists have been exposed to these small animals less than 1 mm in length that live on mosses and ferns, at pressures of more than 6,000 atmospheres, and still refused to die. However
not end there skills as tardigrades can withstand almost complete dehydration of the body (go to have a 85% water to 3%), and are able to survive in this state decades. This state of dehydration and metabolic almost completely suspended is called cryptobiosis . In this way the tarígrados adverse environmental conditions can become dehydrated and suspend their metabolism, for very long periods, decades or perhaps hundreds of years.
Recently, these "little water bears" (so called after its discoverer, Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773), made his latest stunt, to survive in the vacuum of space for more than a week, and then be able to reproduce.
was Tardigrada Spallanzani who called for its slow pace. Perhaps I had not called and knowing that tardigrades can travel on dust particles carried by storm, from Africa to America. On these trips in the stratosphere of "water bears" can withstand temperatures of -100 degrees Celsius (a temperature spring for them.) The Russians have also reported that on the roofs of their rockets are tardigrades, once they have reentered the space. Recent research
tardigrades to dehydration due to the disaccharide trehalose . The disaccharide trehalose is a very particular and the two glucoses are joined by a link involving the two anomeric carbon.
Apparently when the tardigrades will stop your metabolism, they begin to produce trehalose to protect cell membranes. Trehalose protects membranes and allows rehydration when amientales adverse conditions change. Trehalose may fulfill this protective function with the same function that the water in the membranes. Water is crucial for maintaining membrane fluidity as being polar is placed between the polar heads of phospholipids, keeping them separate. If we take the water space between the phospholipid polar head disappears, making the Membrana in a gel useless for biological functions.
Trehalose may serve the same function as the water and allows tardigrades to survive for long periods without water. It is noteworthy that this technique of trehalose and is used to preserve organs for transplantation for longer periods.
The amazing capabilities of survival, tardigrades can help with issues related to metabolism, tissue and organ preservation, hibernation or suspended animation. Worth knowing a little more, maybe one day, use your same techniques to travel through space in suspended animation.
Some videos on the tardigrades:
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