The secret to longer life? Animals have the answers
Excerpt of article from MDlinx on why tortoises can live so long.
Liz Meszaros, MDLinx | October 03, 2018
Tortoises and turtles: Energy conservation
Tortoises (shown here) and turtles are some of the longest-living reptiles. The major difference between them is that tortoises live on land and turtles live in the water some or nearly all of the time.
Tortoises are the longest-living terrestrial animals, and the oldest one has been found to be 186 years old. Even small turtles, such as box turtles and terrapins—typically kept as pets—can live for up to 30 to 40 years.
Turtles can live for over 1 year without oxygen. In the absence of oxygen, they can actually drop their metabolism down to nearly nothing to survive by shutting down genes and sub-cellular organelles that require energy or need maintenance. They do this by turning off pyruvate dehydrogenase, an enzyme, and thus turning off their mitochondria. This in turn forces the turtle's body to secrete a protein that protects the cells.
In low-oxygen conditions, turtles can turn off their stress-response proteins and divert the energy they have to reshape their cells to function differently. This includes preventing cells from digesting and turning over proteins or autophagy, which can produce detritus and cause cellular damage.
Scientists have long studied turtles and tortoises for clues to their longevity. Senescence, in particular, has become a focus, as have DNA and telomere length. Telomere length decreases with age, and could predict life span. Some researchers have recently found, however, no differences in telomere length between the genomic DNA of embryos and adults of European freshwater turtles.
Excerpt of article from MDlinx on why tortoises can live so long.
Liz Meszaros, MDLinx | October 03, 2018
Tortoises and turtles: Energy conservation
Tortoises (shown here) and turtles are some of the longest-living reptiles. The major difference between them is that tortoises live on land and turtles live in the water some or nearly all of the time.
Tortoises are the longest-living terrestrial animals, and the oldest one has been found to be 186 years old. Even small turtles, such as box turtles and terrapins—typically kept as pets—can live for up to 30 to 40 years.
Turtles can live for over 1 year without oxygen. In the absence of oxygen, they can actually drop their metabolism down to nearly nothing to survive by shutting down genes and sub-cellular organelles that require energy or need maintenance. They do this by turning off pyruvate dehydrogenase, an enzyme, and thus turning off their mitochondria. This in turn forces the turtle's body to secrete a protein that protects the cells.
In low-oxygen conditions, turtles can turn off their stress-response proteins and divert the energy they have to reshape their cells to function differently. This includes preventing cells from digesting and turning over proteins or autophagy, which can produce detritus and cause cellular damage.
Scientists have long studied turtles and tortoises for clues to their longevity. Senescence, in particular, has become a focus, as have DNA and telomere length. Telomere length decreases with age, and could predict life span. Some researchers have recently found, however, no differences in telomere length between the genomic DNA of embryos and adults of European freshwater turtles.
