{"id":296698,"date":"2025-10-12T07:11:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T07:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/296698\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T07:11:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T07:11:15","slug":"naked-blind-dog-reveals-genetic-secret-to-long-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/296698\/","title":{"rendered":"Naked blind dog reveals genetic secret to long life"},"content":{"rendered":"

They’re strange, hairless rodents that live underground and look like sausages with teeth – and they’ve just discovered the genetic secret to long life.<\/p>\n

A new study of a bizarre naked, blind puppy shows that the animals have evolved a DNA repair mechanism that could explain their longevity.<\/p>\n

These animals live in burrows and have a maximum lifespan of almost 40 years, making them the longest-lived rodents in the world.<\/p>\n

New findings, published in a magazine Science<\/a>, could also shed light on why the naked mole rat is resistant to a wide range of age-related diseases.<\/p>\n

The animals are resistant to cancer, brain and spinal cord degeneration, and arthritis, so many scientists are trying to learn more about how their bodies work.<\/p>\n

Central to the study, led by a team from Tongji University in Shanghai, China, was DNA repair – a natural process in our body’s cells.<\/p>\n

When DNA strands, our genetic building blocks, are damaged, a mechanism is triggered that uses another undamaged DNA strand as a template to repair the break.<\/p>\n

The research focused on a specific protein involved in this damage detection and repair system.<\/p>\n

When a cell senses damage, one of the substances it produces is the protein c-GAS.<\/p>\n

Its role is multiple, but scientists have found it useful because in humans it interferes with and complicates the process by which DNA is rejoined.<\/p>\n

Scientists believe this disruption could promote cancer and shorten our lifespan.<\/p>\n

However, in the naked mole rat, researchers found that the same protein does the opposite.<\/p>\n

It helps the body repair DNA strands and keeps the genetic code in each cell intact.<\/p>\n


\nChicago Tribune via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Professor Gabriel Balmus studies DNA repair and aging at the University of Cambridge.<\/p>\n

He said the discovery was exciting and “the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to understanding why these animals live exceptionally long lives.<\/p>\n

“The cGAS protein is like a biological Lego brick – it has the same basic shape in humans and naked mole rats, but in the animal version, a few connectors are reversed, allowing it to assemble into a completely different structure and function.”<\/p>\n

Over millions of years of evolution, the naked mole rat appears to have repurposed the same path and “used it to its own advantage,” explains Professor Balmus.<\/p>\n

“This discovery raises fundamental questions: How did evolution reprogram the same protein to act in reverse? What changed? And is this an isolated case or part of a broader evolutionary pattern?”<\/p>\n

Scientists, most importantly, want to know what they can learn from these rodents to improve human health and extend quality of life as we age.<\/p>\n

“I think if we can reverse engineer the biology of a naked blind puppy, we could design some much-needed therapies for an aging society,” explains Professor Balmus.<\/p>\n

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