The lobster mentioned here specifically refers to the giant lobsters living in the ocean. Their appearance is similar to the common lobsters in our lives, but their sizes are much larger.
The reason why lobsters are said to be immortal is mainly related to an accidental capture in 1977.
In Canada, locals caught a real "Big Mac" lobster. It weighs 20 kilograms and is about 1 meter long.
Lobsters this big must have been growing for decades, so their lifespans are definitely much longer than we think.
Later, a lobster raised in a hotel in New York, USA, further confirmed this statement. The lobster was over 140 years old at the time, and it turned out that it had lived in the seafood restaurant for more than 20 years and was still growing.
These phenomena seem to indicate that "as long as there is no artificial intervention in the growth process of the lobster, it can live forever."
As scientists conduct in-depth research on the issue of longevity, the myth of the lobster's immortality has been revealed step by step.
Scientists have discovered that the reason why lobsters do not age is mainly due to the DNA in their bodies and the telomerase at their ends.
Normally, every time a cell divides, the telomeres at the ends of chromosomes wear out. When telomeres shorten to a critical length, cell division will stop and new cells cannot be generated. This is the end of life.
The telomerase present in lobster cells is a substance used to prevent telomeres from being damaged and allow them to continue to exist.
This is the fundamental reason why lobsters can always maintain vitality and live such long lives.
This means that the cell division in lobsters will never end, and the cells in their bodies are always in a young stage.
Since lobsters don’t age, will they grow bigger and bigger?
is naturally impossible.
Lobsters grow by shedding their hard exoskeleton. Before they are one year old, lobsters grow very quickly and typically shed their shells 44 times a year.
After six years, it will be refunded again every year. After that, it will slow down to only shed once every two to three years.
This also proves that lobsters will not grow bigger and bigger, or even grow into monsters. As lobsters continue to shed their exoskeletons, their sizes also continue to grow.
Perhaps there is a bigger lobster somewhere in the sea, but humans don’t know it at the moment.
But one thing is certain, the lobster will not grow bigger and bigger, and within a certain period of time, the lobster will also die naturally.
No matter how powerful the creature is, it has its destined natural enemies, and no matter how powerful the creature is, it also has its weak period.
Lobsters will die from a disease called "carapace disease".
Since cells will continue to divide and differentiate during the growth process of organisms, the longer the life span, the greater the possibility of cell mutation.
Just like the longer humans live, the greater the possibility of cancer cells, and the higher the incidence of cancer .
Lobsters, which naturally have a long lifespan, are often attacked by crustacean bacteria. Even if they can guard against it for decades or even hundreds of years, one day, the pathogenic bacteria will still take advantage of it, causing the shell to fail to fall off normally and die. .
Finally, the lobster's shell will gradually rot under the erosion of bacteria, and the muscle tissue under the shell will also become rotten and necrotic. At this time, the lobster will reach the end of its life.
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