The fountain of youth may be hidden in the ocean

Author: Vasilis Tsakonas

Cancer and aging pose significant threats to extending the human life span, making them formidable enemies. However, the solution to combating these adversaries could lie within the bowhead whale, the mammal known for its exceptional longevity. This spring on May 8^th, a team of researchers published their results on experiments performed on bowhead whale cells and revealed ways that these animals beat cancer by repairing their cells, not killing them.

Being the second largest animal in the world, bowhead whales can reach weights that surpass 80,000 kg. When it comes to mammalian lifespan this kind of whale climbs the top of the list since it can live for more than 200 years.

One might think that those animals would be prone to cancer due to their size and spectacular life expectancy. But this seems to not be the case. The researchers of the abovementioned research indicate in their article that big animals like elephants and whales, are characterized by several additional tumor suppressor genes so they tend to overcome the danger of cancer.

Double-strand breaks

What makes bowhead whales special is what Vera Gordunova and her colleagues tried to unravel through their research. The team used cells derived from tissues of the bowhead whale, humans mice, and cows, to compare the difference in mechanistic pathways across different scenarios.

The series of experiments identified cellular and molecular characteristics that make the bowhead whale stand out from the other species in the study. Primarily the experiments suggest that bowhead whales have better and most efficient DNA repair. The whale cells exhibited better capability in repairing DNA double-strand breaks, which are breaks that occur in both strands of the DNA molecule. These breaks appear to be especially toxic if not repaired correctly.

Repairing, not deleting

Another really outstanding trait of bowhead whales is the capability of producing fewer deletions in the process of DNA repair, meaning fewer parts of the DNA are lost.  While human, cow, and mouse cells chose deletions as the mean to fix the damage, whales were adding a single base. Furthermore, the scientists identified elevated expression of repair proteins in the whale cells. While there is no actual use of this knowledge applied to humans yet, these findings could be the turning factor in providing humanity the chance to live longer and better. 

The research on bowhead whales has uncovered fascinating insights into the mechanisms that contribute to their exceptional longevity and resilience against cancer. These findings shed light on the extraordinary adaptations of bowhead whales, highlighting the potential for valuable discoveries in combating cancer and understanding the aging process in humans in the long run.