Endless paces of degeneration applying comparative genomics to study evolution's moulding of longevity
Why can mice not live more than five years and dogs not more than 30, yet bats can live over 40 years and humans over a century? Differences in longevity between closely related species are one of the greatest mysteries in biology, and identifying the processes responsible could ultimately presage the development of therapies against a multitude of age related diseases. The variation in mammalian longevity must have a genomic basis, with recent genome sequencing efforts opening up exciting opportunities to decipher it; some promising results are beginning to emerge. Analysis of two bat genomes revealed that a high proportion of genes in the DNA damage checkpoint DNA repair pathway, including ATM TP53 RAD50 and KU80 are under selection in bats [1] This finding is exciting because these genes have been directly associated with ageing in model systems and, therefore, it points towards a potential role for
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