Meet the Tardigrade - The Toughest Organism on Earth

I remember that a few months ago I was searching for data on the most extreme organisms and the environments in which they can survive. It was after reading a book on human survival in harsh conditions. So, I came across an article from Futurism that was featuring the tardigrade.

In short:

"Because of their stumpy appearance, tardigrades are frequently referred to as “water bears.” Under a microscope, they resemble a plump, squishy bear that waddles around on tiny little legs, each of which has a number of claw-like appendages. Generally, tardigrades only reach 1mm in length. But size isn’t everything—these tiny creatures are much tougher than your average bear."

What's so extreme about them is that they can survive:

• being frozen and defrosted
• boiling, roasting
• exposure to gamma radiation
• oxygen deprivation
• being blasted with solar wind
• being exposed to the vacuum of space
• starvation of food and water for more than 10 freaking years.

In 2007, thousands of tardigrades have been launched into space aboard a spacecraft. Most of them survived the extreme exposure to deadly UV radiation and cosmic rays.

These little creatures seem to be incredibly resilient, which is why I'm perplexed of the little attention they are getting from the scientific community. I think we could drive important insights by analyzing their genomes more deeply, especially with respect to their ability to enter a state called cryptobiosis - they dehydrate almost completely; this is how they're able to survive without water.

A very beautiful infographic on tardigrades is available on Futurism.

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Image Credit: here

#extreme #resilience

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Cristi Vlad, Self-Experimenter and Author