Naked Mole Rat

The naked mole-rat has traits that allow it to survive in the harsh environments of the deserts of East Africa. Naked mole-rats have a lack of pain sensation on its skin and is able to live with a limited oxygen supply. Scientist from University of Liverpool with The Genome Analysis Centre (Norwich) have sequenced for the first time the genome of the of the naked mole-rat. Researchers plan to use the gene information to study the mechanisms that are thought to protect the mole-rat from the causes of aging and allowing it to resist cancer. Cancer has not been detected in the naked mole-rat; studies have shown that its cell has anti-tumor capabilities that are not in rodents or humans. Dr. Magalhaes says that scientists have been interested in the naked mole-rate for many years but it was not until a few years ago that they discovered that it could live for a long period of time, and it shows how much scientists and others still have to learn about the mechanisms of aging. Dr. Mario Caccamo said that scientists used the latest sequencing technologies for this project, and were able to sequence a first draft of the genome in a few days. This is a great accomplishment since that this animal has atypically a complex and repetitive genome. Researchers in Liverpool are analyzing the data and are making it available to other researchers in health sciences which provides information that could be relevant to studies in cancer and aging.

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