All articles tagged with #petos paradox
Scientists have found that cancer is extremely rare in turtles, affecting only about 1% of individuals, due to their strong cellular defenses, slow metabolism, and unique genes, making them a valuable model for understanding cancer resistance and healthy aging, challenging previous assumptions about size and cancer risk in animals.
Researchers from Wageningen University & Research propose a hypothesis to explain why some fungi, like long-lived mushrooms, can live for hundreds of years without getting cancer. They suggest that these fungi have a special type of cell division called a clamp connection, which acts as a screening device for the quality of the nucleus. This mechanism reduces the risk of nucleus cancers, unlike short-lived fungi that are prone to developing such cancers. The findings provide insights into Peto's paradox, which states that there is little variation in lifetime-cancer risk between animal species.
Bowhead whales have a unique ability to repair DNA damage with high efficiency and accuracy compared to other mammals, according to a study by researchers from the University of Rochester. The study offers a solution to Peto's paradox, which describes how large, long-lived animals, despite having trillions more cells than humans or tiny critters, don't develop more cancers. The researchers found that bowhead whale cells are better at repairing DNA damage than cells from humans, mice, and cows, and that they pump out a DNA repair protein called CIRBP at much higher levels than the other species studied.