Immortality - A Possibility essays

Immortality - A Possibility essays Immortality has been highly sought after by many individuals since the beginning of time. It is also in our biological nature to keep living and reproducing, thus maintaining our family line. Immortality is the ability to live on to your hearts content and cheat natural death. You can still die by many other tragedies, such as getting hit by a car, but will remain alive as long as you indulge yourself in safe and smart activities. This is the first line of humans that will have the chance at being bicentennial, an animal that lives for at least 200 years. Only one generation ago, our parents for example, this was a far-fetched idea that would have not been proposed as a possibility! Despite the new fate that may await us, there are a few species that are already capable of this feat and have been for quite some time. The Turritopsis nutricula, a jellyfish believed to have originated in the Caribbean, is capable of a process known as cell trans differentiation. This is a process in which the jellyfish alters the cells in their current state and transforms it into a completely new cell. The jellyfish then reabsorbs its tentacles and begins a new life as a baby, also known as a polyp. This can occur for as long as the jellyfish pleases and can die happily on its own accord. The last species that has been known to be immortal is surprisingly, a human. A woman known as Henrietta Lacks is not alive today, but her cells are abundant in almost every laboratory in the world, constantly dividing and growing. Henrietta Lacks was a poor black tobacco farmer who was diagnosed with cancer in 1951. A doctor examining her at the time, removed a tumor from her body without her consent or knowledge and sent it into a lab for further investigation. Her cells were remarkable; they kept on dividing and living and would never die. These cells became one of the most important tools in medicine and greatly contributed to the development of the polio...