Les Oursons d'Eau: préparation, étude microscopique et cryptobiose

Some living beings can survive in hostile environments with extreme conditions. One example are water bears or tardigrades, which can enter a kind of hibernation called cryptobiosis in order to avoid death. In this research paper we present a general description of tardigrades based on informative and specialized bibliography from various sources, and which includes from their first historical studies, their morphology and physiology, to the various processes of cryptobiosis.

Throughout the 8 months that this work has lasted, we have managed to collect, prepare and observe the tardigrades very reproducibly, which has allowed us to study these organisms in a home laboratory using optical microscopy, and electron and
confocal microscopy, which they are advanced research tools that we have been able to use at the Scientific and Technological Centers of the University of Barcelona at the Hospital Clínic.

First, we have observed its microscopic structure and how its size decreases when dehydration is induced and how it increases when it is rehydrated. We have interpreted this process as a type of cryptobiosis called anhydrobiosis that occurs due to a lack of water, and we have observed that it is reversible.

These studies have given us an overview of the experimental methods of microscopy and research in biology and results comparable to the articles that have been published on water bears. Finally, our research work opens the door to other studies of
different types of cryptobiosis and the morphology and physiology of tardigrades.