Scientists have found a way to 'tattoo' tardigrades
47 comments
·May 6, 2025musicale
Great, in a few years those tardigrades will be asking the same scientists about laser removal.
microtherion
Luckily for them, this is a Chinese research team. An US based team doing this would get the tardigrades deported because the tattoo allegedly said "MS-13".
Y_Y
This is a funny joke, but I wish there was a rule about introducing the theme of contemporary US politics/culture wars in threads where they are not already present. It seems to serve as high-vcass flamebait.
(I know there is already a rule about metaposting to complain about rules, please consider this well-intentioned civil disobedience.)
maxbond
> I wish there was a rule about introducing the theme of contemporary US politics/culture wars in threads where they are not already present.
This falls under "eschew flamebait" and "avoid generic tangents," no? (I also chuckled for whatever it's worth.)
kaonwarb
Impressive... and more research needed:
> About 40% of the tardigrades survived the procedure
Still impressive!
protocolture
"New Laser kills 60% of Tardigrades" wasn't as snappy for the paper headline.
snvzz
Tardigrades are quite durable otherwise.
dekhn
only in their dried-out state. Under regular conditions, they are easily squished.
SoleilAbsolu
Yes, durable enough to power FTL starships in the future!
davidw
I want a Far Side cartoon depicting this.
PaulHoule
... I think there will be a lot of competition for the Ig Nobels this year.
butlike
> 40% survived the procedure.
And it's a long way from 'survived' to 'prospered'. Are we sure this is the most humane thing to do?
BugsJustFindMe
I don't think society is at a place where asking whether something is the most humane towards tardigrades makes sense to most people.
PaulHoule
Yeah, but somehow blasting tardigrades with an electron beam to write on them feels a little cruel to me.
butlike
Isn't that a shame?
alach11
I'm trying to think of practical use cases for this. Is surveillance one of them? Could you drop a bunch of these marked tardigrades on an object or on money and later identify it?
Doesn't seem like a very efficient way to accomplish the goal, but it would make for a great plot line in a spy movie.
b3lvedere
"After this first step, Zhao and Qiu hope that this work could enable advancements such as microbial cyborgs and other biomedical applications in the future."
I'm not sure if i shoud be happy microbial cyborgs exist.
PaulHoule
You can stick something onto a human cell to reprogram its behavior
https://wyss.harvard.edu/news/a-backpack-full-of-multiple-sc...
Radical modifications of cell membranes have been a think for a while
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg#Bacterial_cyborg_cells
and of course there is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cell
and rapid advancement in synthetic biology.
butlike
Just wait until the microbial cyborg hackers: "This body has been pwned by Micro squad"
jancsika
Here's a fun thought-experiment: imagine that NASA began with the truism that tardigrades are the best fit candidates for astronauts[1]. They put all their effort and money into robotics and tech to support little tardigrade colonies on The Moon and Mars.
Present day, this alternate universe has the same boring space tourism for humans that we have. But they also have a vibrant inter-planetary research program with robot-assisted colonies of tattooed tardigrades, doing all kinds of experiments, most of which are broadcast back home.
And honestly, by the time we get tech to figure out how to terraform Mars, we'd probably also have the tech to make humans more tardigrade-like. So the tardigrade astronaut program (TAP for short) would provide an important body of knowledge for the necessary biological changes.
Just seems like a better use of astronaut dollars all around[2].
1: I mean, they come standard with little space suits! C'mon!
Edit:
2: And think of the savings: I just found the first batch of candidates for the TAP's Mercury project by picking up a wet leaf.
staplers
by the time we have the tech to figure out how to terraform Mars
The myth of humans "terraforming Mars" is so far from reality it makes me question the aptitude of anyone suggesting it.
betterThanTexas
Presumably it's at least worth considering if such a pessimistic attitude is warranted. Such a slow oxidation rate is certainly not warranted on a chemical process level. The trick is performing this chemical process 1.5 AU away.
staplers
Absolutely, don't mistake my cynicism for defeatism. I want it as badly as anyone else, but the chemical and thermodynamic makeup of Mars does not warrant optimism (given present knowledge).
null
cloudking
How does one come up with such an idea in the first place?
Ekaros
Identifying tardigrades seems like obvious problem for this solution. You are doing experiments and want to track individuals overtime I don't think there is that many identifying features in them. So you need something.
Y_Y
It's an obvious progression from burning ants woth a magnifying glass
mhb
1. "We need some funding"
2. "Hey, I got an idea!"
null
ImHereToVote
Finally.
> this technique could be suitable for printing micro-electronics or sensors onto living tissue.
I was thinking we could use tattoos to identify tardigrades, like how they tag animals for research purposes, but this is next level.