Near the northern tip of Alaska, on the outskirts of the Arctic Ocean, bowhead whales have given scientists a glimpse into longevity.
That ability means the animals might mend damage that could otherwise lead to cancer-causing genetic glitches, says Orsolya Vincze, an evolutionary ecologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, who was not involved with the research. Scientists have previously reported other animals’ biological strategies for avoiding cancer. But the new work, Vincze says, “shows that the whales approach cancer resistance from a very new perspective.”
The bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, can grow to roughly 18 meters long and is among the heaviest mammals on Earth. At more than 80,000 kilograms, it’s about the weight of six fully loaded school buses. All that body mass adds up to a vast number of cells. And every time a cell divides, there’s a chance that a dangerous mutation can arise.
But somehow, large-bodied animals are especially cancer resistant — a puzzle known as Peto’s paradox. That suggests the animals must “have much stronger cancer defenses,” says Lisa Abegglen, a cell biologist at the University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City who was not part of the new work.
2023-06-12 08:00:00
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