overtone Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 (edited) https://www.sciencenews.org/article/water-bears-glass-all-full Something spotted before, but not understood quite as well: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19732016 I like water bears, and not just because they look like the Aunts in "A Wrinkle In Time". ( photo: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/water-bears’-genetic-borrowing-questioned) To say that this is possiby the coolest thing a water bear can do is to say something. Maybe because human packaging is almost always designed to prevent water from affecting the contents, this comes from left field - but methinks those guys need to get hold of a patent attorney. Edited January 23, 2016 by overtone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr0x Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 This also came out recently: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-35323237 These little guys survived over 30 years at -20oC! I wonder if it had something to do with these "glass-like" proteins you're talking about. I also know that tardigrades can produce trehalose, a sugar which apparently preserves their cellular membranes when they're completely dried out. (original scientific article for those more curious: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0011224015300134) Makes me wonder about the interactions between these so-called glass-like proteins and the trehalose. Maybe having both mechanisms is what makes them so resistant to extreme temperatures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overtone Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 The species in the OP paper showing the highest temperature tolerance while glassed up, Milnesium tardigradum, does not apparently form trehalose. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18070104 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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