Title: Bowhead whales may unlock the secrets to a long, healthy life
Website: sciencenews.org
Author: Kate Baggaley
Date of Publication: January 6, 2015
URL: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bowhead-whales-may-unlock-secrets-long-healthy-life?mode=topic&context=76&tgt=nr
Summary
Bowhead whales, the longest lived mammals, can live more than 200 years as they are not prone to many cancerous diseases and aging issues. By running tests to map out the genome, scientists reveal that though bowhead whales contain approximately a thousand times more cells than humans, their risk for cancer is low due to an almost zero percentage chance of uncontrollably dividing cells. In addition, whales can repair their DNA better than humans. Whales do not allow any damaged DNA to accumulate to such an extent where they may receive cancer or any aging type diseases. Within their DNA, the nitrogenous bases code for certain characteristics which prevent the accumulation of many cancerous cells. A gerontologist at the University of Liverpool named João Pedro de Magalhães suggests that by identifying those genes and manipulating human genes so that cancer and other aging diseases decrease may be the next step for humans to live a longer, healthier life.
Connection
This article connects to our unit of Molecular Genetics in many different ways. First, when DNA is replicated, there are few errors due to enzymes self-checking the process. Although the human DNA is extremely thorough, there are many things that can go wrong such as a mutation in large regions of a chromosome or a single nucleotide pair. However, in whales, the self-checking process is more detailed so nothing can go wrong. Of course, there are some exceptions, but the percentages for mutations are higher in humans. In addition, cancer is created through uncontrollable cell reproduction caused by a mechanism that normally controls the cell cycle. A possibility is that this mechanism can be turned off by a restriction enzyme which unlocks a repressor protein from controlling cellular production. Finally, artificial, desirable genes from the whale for the cancer "resistance" can be added to a plasmid in a human's cell, which may answer Magalhães theory of humans living longer, healthier lives.
Website: sciencenews.org
Author: Kate Baggaley
Date of Publication: January 6, 2015
URL: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bowhead-whales-may-unlock-secrets-long-healthy-life?mode=topic&context=76&tgt=nr
Summary
Bowhead whales, the longest lived mammals, can live more than 200 years as they are not prone to many cancerous diseases and aging issues. By running tests to map out the genome, scientists reveal that though bowhead whales contain approximately a thousand times more cells than humans, their risk for cancer is low due to an almost zero percentage chance of uncontrollably dividing cells. In addition, whales can repair their DNA better than humans. Whales do not allow any damaged DNA to accumulate to such an extent where they may receive cancer or any aging type diseases. Within their DNA, the nitrogenous bases code for certain characteristics which prevent the accumulation of many cancerous cells. A gerontologist at the University of Liverpool named João Pedro de Magalhães suggests that by identifying those genes and manipulating human genes so that cancer and other aging diseases decrease may be the next step for humans to live a longer, healthier life.
Connection
This article connects to our unit of Molecular Genetics in many different ways. First, when DNA is replicated, there are few errors due to enzymes self-checking the process. Although the human DNA is extremely thorough, there are many things that can go wrong such as a mutation in large regions of a chromosome or a single nucleotide pair. However, in whales, the self-checking process is more detailed so nothing can go wrong. Of course, there are some exceptions, but the percentages for mutations are higher in humans. In addition, cancer is created through uncontrollable cell reproduction caused by a mechanism that normally controls the cell cycle. A possibility is that this mechanism can be turned off by a restriction enzyme which unlocks a repressor protein from controlling cellular production. Finally, artificial, desirable genes from the whale for the cancer "resistance" can be added to a plasmid in a human's cell, which may answer Magalhães theory of humans living longer, healthier lives.
How did the bowhead whales develop these characteristics?
ReplyDeleteDoes any other species of whales unlock the secrets to a long, healthy life? Or are bow head whales special?
ReplyDeleteBowhead whales developed these "characteristics" as enzymes check the DNA very carefully so that no cancerous diseases can grow out of control as there are no abnormal mutations in the DNA.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBowhead whales are supposedly the longest-lived mammals known in the world (http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Bowhead_whale). I do not know if other whales are up there in age with them, but bowhead whales are definitely special, and the WWF is doing all they can to make sure the species is preserved. Nice question Ruiqi!
ReplyDelete