Cold-water sea cucumber tissue lives for three years

Scientists have observed a form of biological immortality in tissue from a cold-water sea cucumber, a discovery that challenges fundamental assumptions about life and decay. Researchers found that amputated body parts from the species Psolus fabricii survived, healed, and continued to grow independently in ordinary seawater for more than three years, a phenomenon with no known parallel in scientific literature.

The study, led by researchers at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, began when biologists noticed that discarded tissue from a sea cucumber's tube foot had not decayed after several weeks. Intrigued, they conducted long-term experiments, placing tiny sections from the creature's feet, tentacles, and body walls into tanks of flowing, non-sterile seawater. Three of the four tissue types tested survived long-term, with some explants monitored for over three years before the experiments were concluded for publication.

These tissue pieces, dubbed "LiPfe" for living immortal P. fabricii explants, followed a clear healing sequence. Within a week, wounds fully closed as surrounding tissue curled inward to seal the openings. The...