How Tardigrades Withstand Lethal Radiation
Tardigrades, also called water bears, may be the toughest group of animals in the world.
Barely the size of a poppy seed, they can withstand extreme cold, intense pressure, and even the hard vacuum of space.
They can also tolerate high doses of radiation, up to 100 times the lethal amount for humans.
How tardigrades shrug off harmful radiation has eluded scientists, but a new study sheds light on this ability.
Researchers in Japan sequenced the genome of the tardigrade Ramazzottius varieornatus, an especially hardy species, and discovered a unique protein not found in any other organism.
The protein, called Dsup, binds to DNA. When expressed in human cells, reduced DNA damage from X-rays by about 40 percent.
The researchers note that tardigrades can withstand 1000 times the amount of radiation used on the cells in the study, which suggests that we’ve yet to find all the genes protecting these tough little guys from getting cooked.
