Immortal Animals?

Rotifers are tiny animals that survive against all the odds. They are also known for not having had sex for 80 million years.

We follow Dr Alan Tunnacliffe, award-winning Cambridge researcher at the Institute of Biotechnology, as he tests their super-powers by draining 90% of the water in their microscopic bodies, heats them to boiling point and freezes them in liquid nitrogen.
Still they thrive! We'll discover how these extraordinary animals are able to survive under conditions deadly to most life and what this teaches us about how life might travel through space and potentially how it could have arrived on Earth. More immediately, well see how Alan's team is poised to revolutionise medicine by bringing the tough tricks of the Rotifers to human cells and medicines.