{"id":15127,"date":"2022-07-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=15127"},"modified":"2022-07-27T12:10:46","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T10:10:46","slug":"turtles-can-almost-stop-ageing-why-cant-we","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/2022\/07\/25\/turtles-can-almost-stop-ageing-why-cant-we\/","title":{"rendered":"Turtles can almost stop ageing – why can’t we?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TURTLES CAN ALMOST STOP AGEING \u2013 WHY CAN\u2019T WE?<\/h2>\n\n

Researchers studying slow-ageing animals are beginning to understand why these creatures are able to live longer than us <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Research suggests that some reptile species barely seem to age, despite growing older<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Some cold-blooded animals can slow their ageing so much that they\u2019re essentially not ageing at all, according to the findings of the most comprehensive study of ageing to date. <\/p>\n\n

Published recently in the journal Science, <\/em>the study was carried out by an international team of 114 scientists at Penn State and Northeastern Illinois University and involved 77 species of reptiles and amphibians. The team hopes that by studying these animals they can gain insights that could lead to treatments for age-related conditions in humans. <\/p>\n\n

During the study, the team found evidence that turtles, crocodiles and salamanders all aged so slowly that their lifespans are longer than would be expected for animals of their sizes. In fact, some turtles aged so slowly that the team concluded they experienced \u2018negligible ageing\u2019, where their bodies don\u2019t age as they grow older. <\/p>\n\n

This doesn\u2019t mean the turtles are immortal, only that their chance of dying isn\u2019t related to their age \u2013 unlike in humans, where our likelihood of dying increases the older we get. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cNegligible ageing means that if an animal\u2019s chance of dying in a year is 1 per cent at age 10, if it\u2019s alive at 100 years, its chance of dying is still 1 per cent,\u201d said Prof David Miller, an author of the new study. \u201cBy contrast, in females in the US, the risk of dying in a year is about 1 in 2,500 [0.04 per cent] at age 10 and 1 in 24 [around 4 per cent] at age 80.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

The team also found that animals with built-in physical or chemical protections, such as hard shells, tough spines, or venomous bites, aged more slowly and lived longer than animals that didn\u2019t. As these features affect an animal\u2019s chance of dying, they likely influenced how the species evolved.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cSome turtles aged so slowly that they experienced \u2018negligible ageing\u2019\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

\u201cFor the species we looked at, having protective adaptations, being larger and taking longer to mature are all characteristics of species that age slower,\u201d said Miller. \u201cThese [traits] all affect mortality, and likely shape how evolution selects for physiological adaptations [in the animal] that limits ageing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

While these characteristics offer animals protection from predators, they can\u2019t always safeguard against threats like climate change and habitat loss. An animal\u2019s longevity can have other advantages, however, such as helping them endure and overcome challenges. <\/p>\n\n

For example, one species in the study was shown to grow more slowly during hard times. The western terrestrial garter snake, Thamnophis <\/em>elegans, <\/em>was able to slow its growth when food supplies were unreliable. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cThis allows them to weather droughts that reduce the availability of their prey,\u201d said Miller. <\/p>\n\n

Understanding the evolution and impact of protective traits in animals could bring us closer to understanding human ageing, and point towards new treatments and medicines for ailments related to the ageing process. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe believe that turtles and other slow-ageing reptiles can be a model for learning about the physiological and genetic processes that underlie ageing [across all animals],\u201d said Miller. \u201cTurtles and some of the longer lived reptiles we studied share some characteristics with humans. Like humans, they take a long time to mature, their external sources of mortality are lower than most species and they\u2019re long lived.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

IMAGE: BETH A REINKE\/NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers studying slow-ageing animals are beginning to understand why these creatures are able to live longer than us 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