Proteomic researchers solve one of the big riddles of why tardigrades are indestructible!

 

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You know tardigrades, right? I think they call them bug bears or something as well. As animated above, they're a whole lot tougher than most organisms, particularly anything anywhere near their size. Besides being very normally tough, they can also go into an even tougher hibernation thing as well. 

WANNA KNOW HOW THEY DO IT? Check out this new study from Amanda Smythers et al.,! 

It's cysteine modifications! Yes, the same ones that you can't see because you dumped DTT into your protein lysates and poured in a bunch of iodoacetamide or methylthiols or something. It makes you wonder how many other signaling pathways are we losing because of this.