A Russian scientist tests on himself an ancient bacterium preserved in permafrost. She is about several million years old.
But the amazing viability of microorganisms has not yet been explained. Perhaps they will appear after the cryologist Anatoly Brushkov introduces the bacterium into his body. And then - it is possible - the secret of eternal life will be found.
If everyone only dreams of eternal youth, then the hope for eternal life has already appeared. "Ageless cells" were found in Siberia, in the permafrost. The bacterium, with a solid age of millions of years, lives and lives to this day.
Russian scientist, head of the Department of Geocryology, Anatoly Brushkov, believes that her genes help her in this. They also protect her from damage.
He is sure that the same mechanism can work when cells are introduced into the human body: they will strengthen its immunity and increase motor activity. Moreover, Brushkov has already injected himself with these cells and admits that he began to feel better.
“She herself - a cage - is not frozen, surrounded by ice. She has no growth, but she remains alive, - the scientist explained. She probably has some kind of defense mechanism. On the other hand, the usual processes that occur on the surface occur, that is, thawing. Thus, these cells enter the environment, and this cell will surely get to the local population.
Yakutia is one of the centers of longevity. It would be interesting to try how this bacterium affects the human body. Natural tests have already been carried out, because she herself gets to a person in those places. It seemed interesting to try, why not?"
Anatoly Brushkov is far from the first scientist to risk his life for science. His predecessors also played the role of test subjects. And the risk was not always justified. Russian physiologist Alexander Bogdanov experimented with blood transfusions. After 11 transfusions, he announced that he had stopped balding and his eyesight had improved. However, after the 12th procedure, he died: the Rh factors did not coincide, which were not yet known at that time.
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The first woman professor at the Sorbonne, Maria Skłodowska-Curie, discovered radium and polonium and tried to understand their effect on herself. She watched the ulcers that formed on her arms from constant contact with radioactive samples, and even wore an ampoule of radium on her chest as a talisman. As a result, the woman died of leukemia.
And in the 18th century, a young doctor, William Stark, while researching scurvy, tried 24 diets on himself. He tried to prove that an ascetic diet is no less useful than gourmet food. He sat on water, bread and sugar, honey puddings, then switched only to vegetables and fruits. Finally, a diet of Cheshire cheese finished him off - at the age of 29 he died.
However, most memorable was the experiment of the Romanian doctor Nicolae Minovichi, who tried to strangle himself to describe the state of asphyxia. Thank God everything worked out.
However, today there is no need to conduct experiments on oneself, says Nikolai Pimenov, Deputy Director of the Federal Research Center "Fundamentals of Biotechnology" of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences. There are other ways to prove or disprove an assumption. Including in relation to "non-aging cells":
“To date, this is an unconfirmed contender for a sensation. Research is required. Now this can be done at the molecular level, to compare genomes, to see if there are any unique enzymes that are not characteristic of other organisms.
Only then can we say that an organism that has been lying in frozen soil for many years has unique properties,”says Pimenov.
Nevertheless, bacteria that have survived millions of years have already been tested for their action in animals and crops. So, mice, which were injected with microorganisms, began to live longer and, even growing old, can produce offspring.
If, during tests, a bacterium found in permafrost confirms its vitality not only in ice, but also in the human body, the chances of prolonging life will increase greatly.