How Do Naked Mole Rats Defy Ageing?

From humans to rodents, all living organisms are subject to the laws of ageing. But now, a team of researchers have found that naked mole rates are an exception. According to experts, the species is a "supermodel" when it comes to stacking on the years. In fact, the animals appear to completely defy the biological laws of ageing.

They rarely develop cancer, can survive up to 18 minutes without oxygen and are also resistant to certain types of pain. Now, a new study suggests that the risk of death doesn't increase as they age, as it does for every other mammalian species on the planet.

“This is remarkably low mortality,” comments Caleb Finch, a biogerontologist at the University of Southern California. "At advanced ages, their mortality rate remains lower than any other mammal that has been documented.”

Immortal rodents?

With large teeth and wrinkly pink skin, mole naked mole rats don't exactly look like a candidate for exceptional lifespans. However, while on average mice live for around four years in captivity, some naked mole rates surpass three decades. Even at 30 years old some females often remain fertile.

The study was put together by comparative biologist Rochelle Buffenstein, who has studied naked mole rats for more than 30 years. Her findings are astonishing, with Buffenstein asserting that the animals appear to defy the Gompertz–Makeham law, which states that the risk of death increases exponentially with age. For example, for humans after the age of 30 it doubles around every eight years. Though incredibly, Buffenstein did not observe the trend with naked mole rats. Instead it remained the same throughout their lives, with Buffenstein musing, “To me this is the most exciting data I’ve ever gotten. It goes against everything we know in terms of mammalian biology.”

Long lifespans accredited to good "housekeeping"

So what makes naked mole rats so special. Some studies suggest that the animals have ultra-fast DNA repair mechanisms coupled with high levels of chaperones, proteins that assist in the folding and assembly of other macromolecular structures.

“I think the animals keep their house really neat and clean, rather than accumulate damage” says Buffenstein, referring to their physical condition.

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