ScienceBiology

Frozen for 30 years, a tardigrade woke and laid eggs.

Japanese researchers froze a moss sample from Antarctica in 1983 and thawed it 30 years later. A tardigrade inside twitched, then crawled, then went on to lay eggs that hatched — three decades in a freezer had merely paused it.

Step by step

  1. Japanese researchers froze Antarctic moss in 1983 and thawed it 30 years later.
  2. A tardigrade inside twitched, then crawled, then laid eggs — and the eggs hatched.
  3. Three decades at -20°C had simply paused it.

Source

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