The Bowhead Whale Can Live Over 200 Years - What Can Its Genes Tell Us?

 Genomics  

The genome of the first large whale has now been sequenced.  Bowhead whales can live for 200 years, and continued research into the mechanisms that control their aging may lead to advances in human aging and cancer research.

A whale that can live over 200 years with little evidence of age-related disease may provide untapped insights into how to live a long and healthy life. In the latest issue of the journal Cell Reports, researchers present the complete bowhead whale genome and identify key differences compared to other mammals. Alterations in bowhead genes related to cell division, DNA repair, cancer, and aging may have helped increase its longevity and cancer resistance.

"Our understanding of species' differences in longevity is very poor, and thus our findings provide novel candidate genes for future studies," says senior author Dr. João Pedro de Magalhães, of the University of Liverpool, in the UK. "My view is that species evolved different 'tricks' to have a longer lifespan, and by discovering the 'tricks' used by the bowhead we may be able to apply those findings to humans in order to fight age-related diseases."

Related articles Researchers Sequence Sacred Lotus Genome In Hopes of Understanding Plant's Extraordinary Longevity  DNA Sequencing Lab-On-A-Chip Opens The Door To Personalized Medicine  Researchers Perform DNA Computation in Living Human Cell

Also, large whales with over 1000 times more cells than humans do not seem to have an increased risk of cancer, suggesting the existence of natural mechanisms that can suppress cancer more effectively than those of other animals.

Magalhães and his team would next like to breed mice that will express various bowhead genes, with the hopes of determining the importance of different genes for longevity and resistance to diseases.

"Our understanding of species' differences in longevity is very poor, and thus our findings provide novel candidate genes for future studies."

They also note that because the bowhead's genome is the first among large whales to be sequenced, the new information may help reveal physiological adaptations related to size. For example, whale cells have a much lower metabolic rate than those of smaller mammals, and the researchers found changes in one specific gene involved in thermoregulation (UCP1) that may be related to metabolic differences in whale cells.

The genetic and molecular mechanisms that control longevity remain largely unexplained. Given the declining costs of DNA sequencing, de novo genome sequencing is rapidly becoming affordable. The sequencing of genomes of long-lived species will allow for comparative genomics to be employed to study the evolution of longevity and help us understand, and eventually potentially control the phenomenon.


SOURCE  Cell Press via EurekAlert

By 33rd Square

Embed