“Mark Blaxter leads the Sanger Institute’s Tree of Life programme, a project that sequences species’ DNA to understand the diversity and origins of life on Earth. But far more importantly, Blaxter and his team are superfans of our invertebrate of the year competition and have offered to map the genome sequence of whoever wins this year. …

Blaxter’s team, which voted for the 2024 winner, the common earthworm, has already sequenced many creatures on the 2025 shortlist. The tiny tardigrade? Done. The dark-edged bee fly, a twerking impostor that drops sticky egg bombs? Done. The evolutionary scandal that is the common rotifer has also laid bare its genetic code. So has a close relative of the tongue-biting louse, a nominee whose name only begins to describe the horror of its antics.

The shortlisted tardigrade, Milnesium tardigradum, is the size of a speck of dust. When hunkered down it completely dries out, yet its cells and DNA are preserved. In this shrunken ‘tun’ state, the animal needs no food or water and can endure DNA-shattering radiation. Rehydrate the little ball and the creature carries on as before. ‘It’s amazing to watch,’ says Blaxter, who has witnessed the transformation on a microscope slide. “It expands, comes back to life and starts crawling around. It only takes about 25 minutes.

The tardigrade’s secret is written in its genes, but there is more reason to read the code than curiosity. Understanding the process could help researchers make other biological material impervious to extreme conditions. Think vaccines that don’t need refrigeration, or astronauts that are shielded against space radiation. ‘There are biotechnology applications hidden inside all these little organisms’ genomes that we think are going to be really valuable as we move to a post-oil economy and start thinking about looking after the planet better,’ said Blaxter.”

From The Guardian.