Ever heard of a Mole Rat? Its a small, think Gerbil or hamster, no fur Mammal, that apparently has a very, very, very, long life and are almost immune to cancer. Could Humans, who are also mammals, edit their DNA or a Medical Pill be devised to have the same Longevity and Health?

Is the Key to Immortality Hiding in Naked Mole-Rats?

There has already been a bunch of stories about how naked mole rats are almost immune to cancer (despite those two zoo specimens that did get cancer), but even more exciting is their apparent ability to live indefinitely.

 From article, (There has already been a bunch of stories about how naked mole rats are almost immune to cancer (despite those two zoo specimens that did get cancer), but even more exciting is their apparent ability to live indefinitely. That's right—along with lobsters, jellyfish, and tardigrades, naked mole rats may be the next animal to add to the pantheon of immortals ahead of humans. The question, of course, is how the hell a pink subterranean rat pulls off living forever.

"Over the 30-year-span they looked at, only around 400 mole-rats actually died of natural causes...They also seem to only very rarely develop other age-related diseases, like cancer...All of which suggests to Buffenstein and her team that naked mole-rats could theoretically live as long as they're lucky enough to avoid disease and injury. They also admit that there could be an upper limit where age starts mattering to mole-rats, but if there is, we haven't seen the number yet."

One quote in particular from Buffenstein sums up the situation nicely: "This is the first mammal in which there is a lack of intrinsic mortality with increasing age."

It's still unclear why mole rats possess this apparent immunity to aging, but once scientists at Calico (or other research institutions) are able to complete the full picture of their biology, we may be able to start talking about immortal, cancer-free humans.)

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