Finding out the mechanism of death of the roundworm, we will take a step closer to immortality

No one can avoid death, and that is true for most animals. However, not all deaths are the same.

For the first time in the history of research, scientists have observed the phenomenon of strange hard corpses when examining the corpses of worms. While human corpses harden at the end of death, worms have periods that are contrary to us.

"The surprising thing is that the hardened worms appear when they are still alive," explained molecular biologist Evgeniy Galimov from the University of London.

In humans, death occurs when the heart stops beating and the brain stops working, but the species is not like humans (obviously), so they experience death in a very different way. " This worm is so small that it does not need the circulatory system to get oxygen but respects it."

The roundworm emits a blue color throughout the body when the cells in their bodies die.

In 2013, a member and the same research team discovered that the death of the nematode is very different: they emit a green color throughout the body when the cells in their bodies die. During this study, scientists dug deeper, and they discovered that the blue substance hardens the worm's body.

The main cause here is calcium. When death spreads throughout the body of the worm, dead cells stimulate the surrounding cells to die by secreting a special chemical. When this dead wave spreads to the intestine of the worm, the blue substance was released by a large amount of Salicylic Acid .

"It could be called a blue death god, watching death over the worm's body until all traces of life disappeared," said researcher David Gems in 2013.

But what does dead worms have to do with humans?

The research team is looking for the correct answer to this question. Obviously the human body is different from the worm's body, but it still has certain similarities. When studying this worm's way of dying, we can pause the death that happens to a creature.

The crux of this puzzle is that ATP - the energy-carrying molecule , functions to transport energy to where it is needed for the cell to use. Cells that release calcium are deadly when their ATP is depleted, but we have not yet confirmed exactly why, how and when the ATP level will drop, making any species of this living being must also die. Preventing the death of ATP, we will prevent death.

Preventing the death of ATP, we will prevent death.

In this study, the ATP level did not drop too much until the worm worm was close to death."Discovering how the worm's body stiffens when it dies will shed light on an important step in the process of dying in old age," Professor Gems said. "It helps us understand the death of people, and perhaps in the future we will help those who suffer from fatal diseases escape death."

What will a roundworm help us in this seemingly impossible path of immortality? Can death be changed or better, stop it?

Currently, we do not have an answer and do not expect an early answer: we are looking for ways to go against nature. People are trying to reach immortality.

"The way death spreads from one cell to another is due to deadly calcium like a burning building," Professor Galimov said. Now we just need to put out the fire.

This research has been published on Cell Reports.