The naked mole rat that looks ugly can live for about 30 years, which is ten times longer than the rodent cousins. The nearly blind subterranean, pink skinned rats also shows resistance to tumors.
These ugly, hairless, wrinkled and buck-toothed animals have always attracted attention of molecular biologists. Vera Gorbunova and Andrei Seluanov from the University of Rochester are also motivated with this tiny animal.
Gorbunova said, “Every time we look at the naked mole rat, there’s something unexpected and something that could be potentially useful to humans.”
Earlier the two discovered a massive sugar-like molecule that seems contributing to the notorious resistance to tumors in the rats. Lately the husband-and-wife research team found a chemical behavior of the RNA inside the ribosomes of the animal that may be providing cellular protein factories. Researchers say the ability to carry out genetic orders could be linked to longevity.
Gorbunova said, “When we saw the first time that ribosomal RNA split, people did not believe their eyes.”
Similar cleavage is also found in protozoa, salmonella and some arthropods. Among mammal it is found in South American rodent named tuco-tuco.
He added further, “Aging is a combination of various things going bad; and one of those things is that cells start to accumulate protein junk… This protein can be recycled, in the young, but as we get older, this recycling process also is not perfect, so we start to accumulate this junk that aggregates, and clogs up the cells.”
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