The bowhead whale lives over 200 years. Can its genes tell us why?

A whale that can live over 200 years with little evidence of age-related disease may provide untapped insights into how to live a long and healthy life; researchers present the complete bowhead whale genome and identify key differences compared to other mammals.

Alterations in bowhead genes related to cell division, DNA repair, cancer, and aging may have helped increase its longevity and cancer resistance.

“Our understanding of species’ differences in longevity is very poor, and thus our findings provide novel candidate genes for future studies,” says senior author Magalhães, of the University of Liverpool, in the UK. “My view is that species evolved different ‘tricks’ to have a longer lifespan, and by discovering the ‘tricks’ used by the bowhead we may be able to apply those findings to humans in order to fight age-related diseases.” Also, large whales with over 1000 times more cells than humans do not seem to have an increased risk of cancer, suggesting the existence of natural mechanisms that can suppress cancer more effectively than those of other animals.

 

Dr. Magalhães and his team would next like to breed mice that will express various bowhead genes, with the hopes of determining the importance of different genes for longevity and resistance to diseases.

They also note that because the bowhead’s genome is the first among large whales to be sequenced, the new information may help reveal physiological adaptations related to size. For example, whale cells have a much lower metabolic rate than those of smaller mammals, and the researchers found changes in one specific gene involved in thermoregulation (UCP1) that may be related to metabolic differences in whale cells.

Source: Science daily

N.H.Khider

 

You might also like
Latest news
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria: Reports about United Nations evacuating all its s... Army General Command: The Syrian people are facing systematic media and terrorist war aiming at dest... Syrian Army Eliminates large numbers of Terrorists, destroys dozens of their vehicles in northern Ho... Presidency of the Republic: President Al-Assad is assuming his work, national and constitutional dut... Lavrov: Russia, Iran, Turkey agreed on facilitating the stopping of military operations in Syria, st... Iran reaffirms ongoing support for Syrian people, government Russian and Iraqi foreign ministers discuss situation in Syria and its serious impacts on the region... Damascus International Airport operating at full capacity, news about stopping operations is not tru... The Russian "Roads of Glory - Our History" movement condems the terrorist organizations' attack on S... Baghaei: Allegations about the evacuation of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus are not true 27 martyrs in Israeli occupation massacres in Gaza A statement by the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces Joint statement of the foreign ministers of Syria, Iraq and Iran: "Threatening Syria’s security enda... Friends of UN Charter condemn terrorist attacks in Syria Foreign Ministers of Syria, Iraq and Iran hold joint press conference on the situation in Syria Iraqi President reaffirms need to preserve Syria's unity and sovereignty Israeli occupation forces raid Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza, force medical staff and patients to lea... The Syrian Army eliminates dozens of terrorists in Hama countryside Lavrov: Information indicates the United States, Britain support terrorist groups in northern Syria Fayyadh: Syria’s security cannot be separated from Iraq’s