Clue to mole rats’ long life
An ability to build almost perfect proteins may be the secret to long life and good health for one of nature’s greatest oddities, the naked mole rat.
The hairless creatures from east Africa live in underground burrows for around 30 years and never suffer from cancer.
Scientists investigating the naked mole rat’s impressive health record found something unusual deep within its cells.
A cellular machine called the ribosome that assembles proteins proved to be much more reliable in the creature than it is in other animals.