# @stem_antics on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DQpUm_HEYpI
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/76866177-stem-antics-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/3aba54c104.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-11-04T19:06:04.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Stem Antics (@stem_antics) — https://gondola.cc/stem_antics

## Caption

Tardigrades (phylum Tardigrada) are microscopic, eight-legged invertebrates (~0.05–1.2 mm) known for near-total environmental tolerance. They inhabit mosses, lichens, sediments, and deep-sea substrates worldwide.

When exposed to dehydration, vacuum, or temperature extremes, they enter anhydrobiosis—a tun state with <3 % water content and <0.01 % normal metabolism. In this state, they withstand:
	•	Temperature: −272 °C to +150 °C
	•	Pressure: 0 Pa (space) to >1,000 atm
	•	Ionizing radiation: up to ~5,000 Gy (humans: ~5 Gy lethal)
	•	Complete vacuum and cosmic radiation (confirmed by ESA 2007 BIOPAN and later ISS missions)

Key protection systems include:
	•	TDPs (tardigrade-specific intrinsically disordered proteins): vitrify cytoplasm and stabilize macromolecules.
	•	Dsup (Damage suppressor): binds chromatin and reduces DNA breakage by up to 40 %.
	•	Efficient DNA repair and antioxidant enzymes mitigate oxidative stress post-rehydration.

Current research explores applications in biostabilization, cryopreservation, and astrobiology—informing long-term spaceflight and data storage in extreme environments. Over 1,300 species described across Eutardigrada and Heterotardigrada.

💭 Could these proteins be engineered into human cells for radiation protection?

#Tardigrade #WaterBear #ExtremeLife #Anhydrobiosis #Cryobiology #Astrobiology #SpaceBiology #MolecularBiology #Bioengineering #Biotech #Genetics #DNARepair #STEM #ScienceFacts #InstaScience #Microscopy #Evolution

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 32
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- **Comments:** 3

## Credits

No public credits are recorded here. This does not identify who made the post.

## Tags

evolution, extremelife, sciencefacts, stem, instascience, astrobiology, dnarepair, biotech, tardigrade, spacebiology, anhydrobiosis, cryobiology, microscopy, genetics, bioengineering, molecularbiology, waterbear

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