Latest news with #Milnesium
BBC News
07-04-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Who is the invertebrate of the year?
Have you ever heard of a Milnesium tardigradum or tardigrade? The insect has just received a very unusual award - invertebrate of the year 2025!The contest was run by the Guardian newspaper, with readers putting forward more than 2,000 nominations before these were edited down to a shortlist of 10.A public vote then took place from 2-4 April, and the winner has now been revealed. Competition organiser Patrick Barkham said that the aim of the competition was "to celebrate the spineless species that make up 95% of animal life on earth".Last year's winner was the earthworm, who was crowned the first winner of the UK invertebrate of the year in 2024. An invertebrate is an animal that doesn't have a backbone. Many invertebrates, like insects and spiders, have a hard outer casing called an exoskeleton, which protects their body a bit like a suit of tardigrade, nicknamed the water bear, is incredibly tiny - the size of a speck of dust - but has an extraordinary ability to survive in difficult circumstances. They often live in aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats such as lichen and damp moss. They are found throughout the world, including regions of extreme temperature, such as hot springs, and extreme pressure, such as deep underwaterExplaining why the tardigrade was a good choice to win, Patrick said: "We are drawn to tiny but resilient animals in times of global political turmoil. When we feel small and powerless, the mighty, microscopic tardigrades give us hope. " Now a special team of scientists in Cambridge plan to study tardigrades to find out what we can learn from their unique "superpowers".For example they can survive radiation, by shrinking themselves and completely drying out their cells. Their DNA is then preserved. In this state they requires no food or water and when they wants to rehydrate again, they can get back to their original state in as little as 25 minutes. Understanding this process could help researchers make other materials that are resistant to very extreme conditions - maybe vaccines that don't need to be kept in the fridge, or astronauts that can better withstand the radiation in space. By researching the tardigrades scientists hope they can understand more about how the tiny animals have become so resilient. The shortlist of the final 10 included: 1. The tongue-biting louse burrows in through a fish's gills, clings to its tongue and eats what the fish eats.2. The dark-edged bee-fly pretends to be a bee but is actually a fly that twerks.3. Multi-segmented micro-animal Milnesium tardigradum has survived five great extinction events.4. The flamboyant cuttlefish flashes a dazzling array of psychedelic colours to warn predators they are toxic.5. The giant Gippsland earthworm can grow up to 3 metres in length.6. The all-female microscopic common rotifer has thrived without males for millions of years.7. The fen raft spider walks on water and has been revived from near-extinction in Britain.8. The ultra-rare amber comet firefly emits a burning flash of light, following by a trailing glow.9. The Wētāpunga is a flightless grasshopper that's the heaviest insect in the world.10. The monarch butterfly migrates for 3,000 miles.
The Guardian
03-04-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Top genome scientists to map DNA sequence of invertebrate winner 2025
'We are following the 'invertebrate of the year' series with bated breath,' began the email that arrived in the Guardian's inbox last week. Mark Blaxter leads the Sanger Institute's Tree of Life programme, a project that sequences species' DNA to understand the diversity and origins of life on Earth. But far more importantly, Blaxter and his team are superfans of our invertebrate of the year competition and have offered to map the genome sequence of whoever wins this year. 'The genome sequence of each species is a kind of time machine – we can look back through evolutionary history to understand its origins, and also go some way to saying how the species is faring under the climate emergency,' he said. 'Each and every genome includes amazingly detailed insights into the 'special powers' of the species, increasing our depth of understanding. 'As part of our daily work, we are picking up interesting species to sequence,' Blaxter told the Guardian. 'And the ones we pick are often interesting for the same reasons they are nominated for invertebrate of the year.' They have superpowers, they're beautiful, they have crazy lifecycles. Blaxter's team, which voted for the 2024 winner, the common earthworm, has already sequenced many creatures on the 2025 shortlist. The tiny tardigrade? Done. The dark-edged bee fly, a twerking impostor that drops sticky egg bombs? Done. The evolutionary scandal that is the common rotifer has also laid bare its genetic code. So has a close relative of the tongue-biting louse, a nominee whose name only begins to describe the horror of its antics. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion The shortlisted tardigrade, Milnesium tardigradum, is the size of a speck of dust. When hunkered down it completely dries out, yet its cells and DNA are preserved. In this shrunken 'tun' state, the animal needs no food or water and can endure DNA-shattering radiation. Rehydrate the little ball and the creature carries on as before. 'It's amazing to watch,' says Blaxter, who has witnessed the transformation on a microscope slide. 'It expands, comes back to life and starts crawling around. It only takes about 25 minutes.' The tardigrade's secret is written in its genes, but there is more reason to read the code than curiosity. Understanding the process could help researchers make other biological material impervious to extreme conditions. Think vaccines that don't need refrigeration, astronauts that are shielded against space radiation. 'There are biotechnology applications hidden inside all these little organisms' genomes that we think are going to be really valuable as we move to a post-oil economy and start thinking about looking after the planet better,' said Blaxter. We may not want to emulate all of the nominees' traits. The shortlisted rotifer, a microscopic aquatic animal, has gone without sex for tens of millions of years. Rather than displaying sympathy, researchers have dubbed them an 'evolutionary scandal'. Without sex to swap genes, a species can expect harmful mutations to build up, making them sicker and sicker until they die out. The rotifer, however, did not get the memo: life finds a way. Much more is buried in these creatures' genomes. The Tree of Life programme aims to generate reference genomes for the 70,000 or so species found in Britain and Ireland and the waters around. Armed with the sequences, researchers can estimate the animals' population sizes back to the last ice age. They can unravel the big events that species have lived through and see when their ancestors split from other lineages. They can assess how diverse today's populations are, and so how vulnerable they are to the multitude of pressures they face. All of this informs work to conserve biodiversity in the face of the climate emergency. Invertebrates don't always get the love the deserve, and some can hardly be said to help themselves. But Blaxter wants people to take a closer look. 'I spend a lot of time on my knees with a hand lens looking at small wiggly things and they are all very beautiful, they are all equally and individually amazing,' he says. 'They are essential to the functioning of the ecosystems on which we depend, and they've got a lot to teach us about how to survive on this planet.' Voting to choose invertebrate of the year is now open: vote here by midday UK time on Friday 4 April and the heroic winner will be announced on Monday 7 April
The Guardian
02-04-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Invertebrate of the year 2025: vote for your favourite
Invertebrates – animals without spines – make up the vast majority of life on Earth. The Guardian's invertebrate of the year contest celebrates the unsung heroes of the planet. Readers have nominated thousands of amazing animals, we've chosen a shortlist of 10, and now you can vote for your favourite. 1. The tongue-biting louse burrows in through a fish's gills, clings to its tongue and eats what the fish eats. 2. The dark-edged bee-fly pretends to be a bee but is actually a fly that twerks. 3. Multisegmented micro-animal Milnesium tardigradum has survived five great extinction events. 4. The flamboyant cuttlefish flashes a dazzling array of psychedelic colours to warn predators they are toxic. 5. The giant Gippsland earthworm can grow up to 3 metres in length. 6. The all-female microscopic common rotifer has thrived without men for millions of years. 7. The fen raft spider walks on water and has been revived from near-extinction in Britain. 8. The ultra-rare amber comet firefly emits a burning flash of light, following by a trailing glow. 9. The Wētāpunga is a flightless grasshopper that's the heaviest insect in the world. 10. The monarch butterfly migrates for 3,000 miles. What amazing animals! Now it's up to you to vote for your favourite, and the winner of the Guardian's invertebrate of the year 2025 will be announced next week. We hope it's a chance for all of us to raise a cheer for the marvellous array of life on Earth. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian.
