Starting today, you’ll see the occasional post on interesting bits of news from the science field. Exciting research with implications on daily life  is my focus, although I can’t promise I won’t delve into the strange and unusual from time to time.

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Long Life Secrets from Naked Mole Rats

Who doesn’t want to live longer? The secrets of a long life have been the subject of many a quest for centuries. This urge to discover the fountain of youth has urged individuals and entire empires to launch countless expeditions to far-off lands, often with disastrous results. These treasure hunts may become a thing of the past with the discovery that the elixir of youth can be found no further than our genes, or the genes of the nearest naked mole rat.

Also known as desert mole rats or sand puppies, naked mole rats are of interest in longevity studies because of their uniquely long lives, especially when compared to other rodents of a similar size. They can live up to 28 years in their underground burrows.

Recently, scientists at the University of Texas Health Science Center identified protein stability as a factor in the long life spans of naked mole rats. The livers from both young and old mice and naked mole rats were compared in terms of oxidation damage and the structural stability of proteins.

Although naked mole rats and mice start their lives with similar levels of oxidation damage, the mole rats are able to maintain these levels over the years. Even after 20 years of life, the mole rats end up with the same amount of oxidation damage to their cells as when they began. In contrast, the mice exhibit increased oxidation as they age. The amount of protein degradation in naked mole rats was also found to be significantly less than in mice. Somehow, these long-lived rodents are able to literally halt the onset of age-related conditions in their cells.

The results of this study provide hope for those who seek the secret to a longer life. Antidotes to protein degradation may someday take their place beside anti-oxidants in the quest to prevent age-related health and beauty issues.

They may not look like ideal models for youthfulness, but these little animals hold secrets in their genes that many people would give their eye teeth for.

Source: PNAS; Image: Wikimedia