These cells adhere to, tightly cooperate with, and depend on each other for life. Large co-ops of similar cells form tissues. Tissues cooperate and form organs. Organs carry out the basic functions of an organism. This tremendous array of cells has an equally vast spread of life spans.
Neutrophils are white blood cells that find, engulf, and destroy foreign microbes.
They cannot, however, reproduce themselves. That's the price these cells pay for specialization. Even longer lived are bacteria spore, which can live much longer lives than the parent bacteria. Spore found recently in New Mexico may have waited 250 million years for the right conditions reports John Fleck in the Albuquerque Journal and others in national news. Pennsylvania biologists William Rosenzweig and Russell Vreeland and New Mexico biologist Dennis Powers announce an amazing feat.