Tardigrades are a species of micro-animals with the ability to survive some of the world's harshest conditions by entering a state of dormancy known as cryptobiosis. We are studying to see just how much cryptobiosis can withstand by subjecting tardigrades to polluted water.

This will be done by sampling as many tardigrades as possible from lichen and moss around campus. Those tardigrades will then be divided into two groups where one half will be subject to filtered sink water and the other half to polluted water from the Red Cedar river. They will then be frozen to induce cryptobiosis, and thawed to determine if they survived the process. A comparison between the two groups will be conducted to determine if high amounts of water pollution affected the tardigrades survival rate.

The survival rates between the pollution water group and the regular water group showed no differences. Thus, we conclude that tardigrades are able to survive water pollution.

Conclusion:

The findings in this study suggest that water pollution has no effect on the molecular mechanisms involved in cryptobiosis. Another plausible explanation may be that there were no effects on cryptobiosis due to tardigrades having adapted to water pollution in the recent past.Tardigrades are able to survive the most stressful and extreme environments through cryptobiosis, including water pollution.

Discussion:

• For this study, the polluted water was derived from the Red Cedar river on campus. The pollution tested on the tardigrades was only one level of pollution at possibly a low concentration. Future research could explore other kinds and concentrations of pollutants to determine if different results are yielded for cryptobiosis survivability.
• This study focused on one stressor, pollution; whereas, in a natural environment, there are other factors, that have arisen due to water pollution, that could affect cryptobiosis survivability. Furthermore, targeting various locations with different climate and weather patterns may affect water pollution and survivability.
• The extreme resilience of tardigrades can be a very useful sensor for determining how harmful a stressor may be for less resilient creatures, such as humans. As there was no significant effect of water pollution, despite its relatively new appearance in the environment, this may indicate a possibility of rapid adaptation when a detrimental stressor is present. If pollution resistance is possible for tardigrades, future studies may explore if pollution resistance can be applied to humans, especially those who live in areas with poor water quality and are subjected to waterborne illnesses.