The animal kingdom never ceases to surprise us and continues to continually challenge the knowledge acquired by human beings, the only animals with the greatest power of reasoning. Such is the recent case of the comb jellyfish, invertebrate and translucent beings which look like jellyfish but belong to a different group of marine animals called ctenophores.
Japanese marine scientists found for the first time that two comb jellyfish merged into a single living being in a laboratory pond, after recording that one jellyfish had disappeared and that the other was larger.
After taking a closer look, the researchers discovered that The largest was not a jellyfish but two that now shared digestive and nervous systems.
“Normally, the comb jellyfish has one mouth and one balancing organ, but this comb jellyfish had two mouths and two balancing organs,” he said. In Jokura, postdoctoral researcher at Japan’s National Institute of Basic Biology who made the discovery during a three-month research program at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, EEUU.
Jokura and his collaborators warned that these marine invertebrates, when injured, can fuse with each other, combining their digestive and nervous systems to survive. This phenomenon, documented in the magazine Current Biology, It has been observed in the laboratory, where it was shown that comb jellyfish fuse rapidly, synchronizing their muscle contractions and sharing vital functions.
Researchers carried out this Frankenstein-like experiment nine times more. And in all but one of the trials, they managed to fuse the animals.
The ctenophores ‘Mnemiopsis leidyi’, Originally from the Atlantic, they have generated curiosity among scientists by demonstrating this binding ability. In the laboratory, the researchers found that these organisms, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm wide, They can combine efficiently after being injured, suggesting an unusual form of biological cooperation.
After this discovery, the experts did more experiments and after wounding several comb jellyfish and placing them in close proximity, 90% of couples completely merged within hours. “In just two hours, the muscle contractions were synchronized and a functional fusion occurred. It was extraordinary and incredible,” said an excited Jokura.
The concept of fusion became evident when researchers observed an abnormally large specimen, indicating that it had fused two mouths and balanced organs. Jokura, pointed out that at feeding these organisms with fluorescent shrimp, it was possible to observe how the food passed through their combined digestive systemsconfirming the functional exchange of nutrients.
The inability of organisms to distinguish their own tissue from others is possibly the reason that allows this fusion. This characteristic contrasts with humans, whose bodies reject transplanted organs without immunosuppressants. The ability of ctenophores to fuse so much in the laboratory has surprised scientists and raises questions about evolutionary flexibility and tissue recognition in other animals.
Historically, there have been observed ctenophores have fused since 1937, but this study is pioneering in documenting the fusion of their internal systems. The finding postulates that these organisms have exceptional adaptability, which could have significant implications in medicine, especially in the fields of organ regeneration and transplantation in humans.
Cooperative behavior in comb jellyfish could inspire innovative approaches to address human medical problems, taking advantage of its ability to integrate with other tissues. However, more research is required to fully understand the molecular mechanisms behind this extraordinary ability, which could open new frontiers in regeneration therapies.
The absence of a self-recognition system in ctenophores and its implication in complex fusions remains a topic that intrigues biologists. “The Mechanisms by which organisms recognize “self” from “not-self” remain poorly understood. Furthermore, the ability of transplanted tissue to functionally integrate is unclear in many organisms. Here, we report that two individuals Mnemiopsis leidyia species of planktonic animals known as comb jellyfish or ctenophores, which were able to quickly merge into a single entity in which some physiological functions are integrated,” the authors wrote in the scientific paper.
And they added: “First of all, ctenophores may lack a self-recognition mechanism that prevents fusion events between conspecifics. Second, fused individuals rapidly integrate and share physiological functions and neurobehavioral outcomes. “Ctenophores are among the earliest extant metazoan animal groups that branched and possess a unique nervous system with enigmatic homology to other phyla.”
Casey Dunn, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale University, who was not involved in the research, suggested that this ability could be linked to, perhaps, relatively simple cellular structure of ctenophores.
“Humans can distinguish what we are from what we are not, that is why our bodies reject transplanted organs without medications that suppress our immune response. These ctenophores are free swimming, so I doubt they will collide with each other and merge into nature, “But it’s fascinating that they do it under laboratory conditions because it tells us that they are just as happy fusing with another ctenophore’s body parts as they are fusing with their own body parts in normal wound healing,” Dunn said.
In contrast, Maike Kittelmann scientist at Oxford Brookes highlighted the need for more experiments to validate the current conclusions and explore potential applications in modern medicine.
Research on ctenophores and their ability to fuse offers a novel vision of the animal kingdom and the processes that support life. This extreme cooperation may seem like a biological curiosity, however, it underscores fundamental aspects of how organisms can become models for medical innovations, possibly transforming our understanding of biology and medicine in the future.
With these findings, researchers will embark on a journey to discover how these sea creatures can teach humans about tissue assembly and the mysteries of survival, hoping to translate these unique qualities into tangible therapeutic approaches.
This study not only reveals an extraordinary phenomenon in nature, but also paves the way for potential discoveries that could radically change the way we understand and treat human injuries and illnesses.
