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The use of tardigrades in space, first proposed in 1964 because of their extreme tolerance to radiation, began in 2007 with the FOTON-M3 mission in low Earth orbit, where they were exposed to space's vacuum for 10 days, and reanimated, just by rehydration, back on Earth.
Dsup (contraction of damage suppressor) is a DNA-associating protein, unique to the tardigrade, [1] that suppresses the occurrence of DNA breaks by radiation. [2] [3] When human HEK293 cells were engineered with Dsup proteins, they showed approximately 40% more tolerance against X-ray radiation.
Tardigrades have survived exposure to space. In 2007, dehydrated tardigrades were taken on the FOTON-M3 mission and exposed to vacuum, or to both vacuum and solar ultraviolet, for 10 days. [20] Back on Earth, more than 68% of the subjects protected from ultraviolet were reanimated by rehydration, and many produced viable embryos. [20]
Tardigrade anatomy [3] Tardigrades have a short plump body with four pairs of hollow unjointed legs. Most range from 0.1 to 0.5 mm (0.004 to 0.02 in) in length, although the largest species may reach 1.3 mm (0.051 in). The body cavity is a haemocoel, an open circulatory system, filled with a colourless fluid.
Tardigrades have been shown to respond to different temperature changes at different developmental stages. Specifically, the younger the egg, the less likely it is to survive extreme environments. However, not too long after development, tardigrades demonstrate a remarkable ability to withstand these conditions.
Anhydrobiosis in the tardigrade Richtersius coronifer. Anhydrobiosis is the most studied form of cryptobiosis and occurs in situations of extreme desiccation.The term anhydrobiosis derives from the Greek for "life without water" and is most commonly used for the desiccation tolerance observed in certain invertebrate animals such as bdelloid rotifers, tardigrades, brine shrimp, nematodes, and ...
Tardigrades are one such creature, as you discover in the above video. They can endure boiling water, freezing cold, and even the vacuum of space by employing some very special survival strategies.
Richtersius is a monospecific genus of tardigrades in the family Richtersiidae; its sole species is Richtersius coronifer. [1] [2] [3] R. coronifer is one of two species of tardigrade that have been shown to survive and continue reproducing after exposure to outer space, specifically in the thermosphere at 258–281 km above sea level with ionizing solar and galactic cosmic radiation for 10 ...