Scientists from the University of Vienna studied the genome of the scarlet sea anemone (Nematostella vectensis) in an attempt to undercover its immortal abilities. According to a new study, the scientists discovered possible multipotent stem cells in the anemone for the first time, which could point to how these creatures are able to successfully fight back against the ravages of time. While scientists have known that the scarlet sea anemone shows little to no signs of aging, they haven’t been able to identify stem cells that drive this unending youth mainly due to their extremely small size. The scientists were able to discern the stem cell lineage of certain cells developed based on transcriptome profiles, which are a collection of mRNA transcripts. unchanged via evolution) genes nanos and piwi, which are regulatory proteins involved in stem cell differentiation as well as gametogenesis—the process of creating germ cells and gametes (sperm and eggs).