A team of military medical researchers in China says it has inserted a gene from tardigrades into human embryonic stem cells that has significantly increased their resistance to radiation.
According to the researchers, the success of this unprecedented experiment could lead to super-hardy soldiers who could survive nuclear attacks.
The water bear, also known as the tardigrade, is an eight-legged animal smaller than 1 millimeter and the most durable creature on Earth. Through years of scientific testing, it has survived -200 degrees Celsius, more than an hour in boiling water and after flying into space.
The water bear’s resistance comes in part from a gene that can generate shield-like proteins to protect its cells from radiation and other effects caused by the outside environment.
The Chinese team said they found a way to insert this gene into human DNA using CRISPR/Cas9, a gene-editing tool currently available in most biological laboratories.