Greenland shark may live 400 years, smashing longevity record (Science mag)

[KHashmi317]

Made to cover of this week's AAAS ...and is the lead paper:

 

 

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/08/greenland-shark-may-live-400-years-smashing-longevity-record

 

 

[Gordo]

Note that cold exposure is believed to be key to its longevity.

[Dean Pomerleau]

Great catch Gordo ☺

 

I read the article but skimmed over the part about cold exposure. Here is the relevant paragraph from the Science Magazine article:

 

[Oellermann] and others think cold water helps lengthen the animals’ lives by slowing down their growth and biochemical activity. “Lower metabolic rate plays a big role," agrees Shawn Xu, a geneticist at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. “But that’s not the whole story.” Three years ago, his work in nematodes showed that cold can also activate antiaging genes that help an animal better fold proteins, get rid of DNA-damaging molecules, and even fight off infections more effectively, extending life span. The cold-activated molecules “are evolutionarily conserved” across the animal kingdom, and thus these pathways very likely exist in these sharks, too, he predicts.

 

It's nice to see they aren't attributing it simply/solely to slowed metabolic processes, but active adaptation and better DNA repair as a result of the hormetic effects of cold. 

 

--Dean