Tardigrades: The Most Indestructible Animal on Earth

Symbolic image: tardigrades and other micro-organisms under the microscope · Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0

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They are called tardigrades or water bears, grow barely half a millimetre long – and are considered the most resilient creatures on Earth. What they endure sounds like science fiction.

Tardigrades survive temperatures from near absolute zero to over 150 degrees Celsius. They withstand the crushing pressure of the deep sea, radiation that would be lethal to humans, and even the airless, freezing vacuum of space – researchers have actually sent them into orbit, and many came back alive.

Their trick: when in danger, they shut their body down almost completely. They dry themselves out, curl into a tiny ball and effectively stop their metabolism. In this state they can survive for decades – and come back to life as soon as water is added.

Tardigrades live almost everywhere: in the moss outside your door, in the deep sea, on mountain peaks. You just have to look closely enough.

Why this is exciting: researchers are studying how the animals protect their cells – hoping to learn something for medicine, such as making sensitive vaccines or tissue stable without refrigeration.

Own synthesis based on publicly available biological research on tardigrades.

Symbolic image · Photo: "Emerging Model Organisms", CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons