Guest guest Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Naked Mole Rat Wins War on Cancer With its wrinkled skin and bucked teeth, the naked mole rat isn't goingto win any beauty contests. But the burrowing, desert rodent is exceptional in another way: It doesn't get cancer. The naked mole rat's cells hate to be crowded, it turns out, so theystop growing before they can form tumors. The details could someday lead to a new strategy for treating cancer in people. In search of clues to aging, cell biologists Vera Gorbunova, AndreiSeluanov, and colleagues at the University of Rochester have beencomparing rodents that vary in size and life span, from mice to beavers.The naked mole rat stands out because it's small yet can live more than28 years--seven times as long as a house mouse. Resistance to cancer couldbe a major factor; whereas most laboratory mice and rats die from the disease, it has never been observed in naked mole rats.http://snipr.com/stkvkor http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/1026/2for rest of article. All new Mail - Get a sneak peak at messages with a handy reading pane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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