Trending Now - Amputated Sea Cucumber Limbs Exhibit Surprising Resilience

WHO:

CNN - Sara Jobson, lead author of the study, is a doctoral student of ocean sciences at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador.

CNN - Veronica Hinman is the director of the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience at the University of Florida.

Ars Technica - Noé Wambreuse is a postdoctoral research fellow at England’s University of Southampton.

WHAT:

CNN - Severed body parts from a sea cucumber survived for over three years in a lab, healing themselves and absorbing nutrients without a mouth.

CNN - Researchers refer to the tissue fragments as "zombies" because they maintain cellular function indefinitely without growing into new organisms.

CNN - The study describes the first case of tissue immortality in natural conditions.

CNN - The severed tissues showed no signs of death, degradation, or necrosis after more than three years.

WHERE:

CNN - The sea cucumber studied, Psolus fabricii, is native to the North Atlantic Ocean.

CNN - The research was conducted in a lab at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador.

WHEN:

CNN - The study describing the findings was published on a Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

WHY:

CNN - The discovery could provide a new model for medical research with immortal cells that thrive in natural conditions without ethical constraints.

CNN - The researchers were surprised to find that the severed parts did not decay and die but instead appeared to grow.

HOW:

CNN - Researchers humanely excised additional fragments from the feet, main body, and tentacles of the sea cucumbers for lab experiments.

CNN - The fragments absorbed amino acids from their natural habitat without the need for a mouth or gut.

CNN - The tissues continued to produce cells and showed signs of an active immune system, responding to stimuli even after months of being detached.

(UPDATED May 29, 2026 18:06 UTC)

Researchers at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador have made a groundbreaking discovery involving severed body parts from a sea cucumber, which managed to survive for over three years in a lab setting, healing themselves and absorbing nutrients without a mouth. The study, which describes the first case of tissue immortality in natural conditions, reveals that these tissue fragments, referred to as "zombies," maintained cellular function indefinitely without signs of death or degradation. This remarkable finding could pave the way for new models in medical research, as the immortal cells thrive without ethical constraints, showing active immune responses even months after being detached.