The bowhead whale has lived for more than 200 years. What can his genome tell us?

An international team of researchers working under the leadership of Dr. Joao Pedro de Magalhaes (we have already written about his work with the genes of long– and short-lived animals in comparison with their human counterparts) from the University of Liverpool, deciphered the genome of the bowhead whale and identified its key differences from the genomes of other mammals.

Special attention to this animal is caused by the fact that its life expectancy can exceed 200 years, and at the same time whales practically do not suffer from age-related diseases. Scientists believe that the features of whale genes associated with cell division, DNA damage repair, cancer and aging that they have discovered ensure the longevity of these unique animals and their resistance to cancer.

The next stage of the authors' work will be the creation of mouse lines expressing various genes of bowhead whales, and the study of the potential role of these genes in longevity and resistance to various diseases.

Figure from an article in Cell Reports

Moreover, they note that the bowhead whale genome is the first decoded genome of a large whale, and the information encoded in it will help to understand the physiological adaptations associated with a large body size. For example, the metabolic rate of whales is much lower than the metabolic rate of small mammals, and researchers have found changes in the bowhead whale in a specific gene involved in thermoregulation that may underlie the metabolic features of whale cells.

Article by Michael Keane et al. Insights into the evolution of longevity from the bowhead whale genome is published in the journal Cell Reports.

Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of The Bowhead Whale Genome Resource.

12.01.2015