Why Don't These Bats Age? The Difference Appears To Be With The Telomers

Unlike in humans, the telomeres of long-lived bats do not appear to shrink with age.

In 2005, scientists in Siberia captured a live Brandt’s bat, a species found across Europe and Asia, that was 41 years old. A house mouse, by comparison, is about twice as big, but might live to a ripe old age of two. “There’s nearly a law in nature,” Emma Teeling, a biology professor at University College Dublin, told me over the phone. “Small things live fast and die young. Big things live slow and live long,” like blue whales. “Bats really defy this.”

Scientists don’t know why, and the mechanisms of aging are something of a mystery. Understanding why and how we age will be key to slowing down the aging process, even reversing it, if we can. Many researchers who study aging are focused on telomeres, found at the ends of our chromosomes, which tend to shrink as we grow older. This process could lead to age-related cell breakdown, tissue deterioration, and death, although the correlation between telomere length and aging isn’t perfect, and there’s still plenty to learn. (Telomeres are often compared to the protective plastic caps on the ends of shoelaces.) Read More…

Featured Products