Meet the Tardigrade

This tiny creature can clone itself, can go into suspended animation, can survive near absolute zero, extreme heat, pressure, and radiation - and it looks like an extra from Doctor Who. Tardigrades have experienced space travel and survived! (Click) You wouldn't want to meet one on a dark night - on the other hand, there may be one in a bit of moss within a few feet of you right now! It's a tardigrade or "water bear". Luckily it's only about half a millimetre long - and doesn't bite!

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Photo: University of Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre)

Sandra McInnes of Great Eversden has made a study of tardigrades, particularly the ones that live in Antarctica. You might wonder Why? Well, firstly, they have been neglected and misunderstood. But these ridiculously "over-engineered" beasties also hold secrets. They contain a sugar called trehalose. A tardigrade can be for all the world dead - but then, when conditions around it change - maybe years later, it can come back to life! How? Trehalose is part of the answer.

Trehalose has a part to play in the successful cold-storage of living body parts as well as in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's.

How does this remarkable sugar sustain the tardigrade? Please keep looking, Sandra!

These mysterious and resourceful animals are attracting a following of their own. Visit their website. http://www.tardigrades.com

It is the tardigrade that has drawn Sandra to both ends of the earth. She has visited remote islands of the Southern Ocean and in the northern seas. Her work at British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge involves this research and also vital support for others out in the field - like buying and monitoring scientific instruments.

Sandra is often out and about in the Eversdens with Toby who is the most obedient dog in the villages. Just watch him crossing the road. Sandra has a biologist's interest in climate and all life in the local landscape. Next time you spot her catch up on the latest on the tardigrade.