Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson estimated we are losing 30,000 species per year to extinction, which amounts to three species every hour.
As we look at the destruction we are causing as a species, ranging from direct habitat destruction to baking the planet with greenhouse gas emissions, it can be quite depressing.
Yet, in the words of Dr. Ian Malcolm, the character in the "Jurassic Park" movie, 鈥渓ife finds a way.鈥�
I have been reflecting on this lately as my students regale their fellow classmates and I with seminars about so-called primitive life forms like tardigrades, jellyfish, sea sponges, sea slugs, or sea stars.
We watched the video of the sea slug voluntarily decapitating itself in attempt to avoid danger, apparently from the parasites inhabiting their bodies.
Within three weeks, voila 鈥� the body is regrown, and the sea slug is as good as new!
Likewise, losing an arm is just a temporary inconvenience for sea stars, as they are very capable of regrowing an arm or two.
Then there is the immortal jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii.
Most jellyfish advance from the polyp stage, rooted to the ocean floor to the free-floating jellyfish form in which they eventually meet their end.
Not so with Turritopsis鈥omehow if it encounters stresses in its environment or simply suffers from old age, it can revert to its polyp form and start over again.
This amazing jellyfish is also one of the world鈥檚 worst invasive species, travelling port to port in the ballast water of ships.
Its refusal to die presents quite a challenge for efforts to curb its invasive populations.
However, if your enemy was a sea sponge, could you not just put it through a blender to end the menace?
Apparently not, because these creatures can reform and regenerate post-blenderization.
Fortunately, sea sponges are mostly harmless.
Finally, we come to the tardigrades, also known as water bears.
These tiny, cartoon-like creatures 鈥� with a very cute face 鈥� can survive unscathed through almost any extreme condition.
Subject to freezing or dehydration tardigrades enter a state of cryobiosis, whereby their metabolic processes drop to near zero.
At this point, extreme temperatures, radiation, or drought can鈥檛 stop them 鈥� they are in a deep sleep patiently waiting for things to get better so they can spring back to life.
Scientists are eagerly researching all of these creatures to look for possible medical applications鈥� and just to be inspired.
Life somehow鈥inds a way.
鈥� PhD, is a professor of biology and environmental studies at Trinity Western University
