The Turtles They rarely ill from cancer, due to the unique biological mechanisms that protect them despite their large size and longevity, so scientists have indicated that they can be very useful and promising models to study healthy aging and resistance to cancer In humans.
A new study, coordinated by researchers from the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom), has provided the strongest evidence so far that cancer is extremely rare in turtles, since only 1 percent of individuals are affected by this disease, a figure much lower than that of mammals or birds; This Wednesday they publish the results of their work in Bioscience magazine.
The study has been directed by the researcher Ylenia Chiari, from the Faculty of Life Sciences of the University of Nottingham, together with the scientist Scott Glaberman, from the University of Birmingham, and in it they have collaborated researchers from Zoos in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe, which have reported medical records and necropsy of hundreds of zoo.
The findings were “amazing”, according to the researchers, not only because of the low number of cases of cancer, but also because, when the tumors appeared, they almost never spread.
Turtles with huge sizes and hundred
Some turtle species reach huge sizes; Gigante and aldabra giant turtles, for example, can weigh hundreds of kilograms, and are also known for their long life, since many are hundred.
A radiated turtle from the Chester Zoo, called Burt, was born in 1945 and can live more than 100 years, while some giant giant turtles and Aldabra have lived more than 150 years.
The foreseeable thing is that large and longevas species have a greater risk of cancer, since a greater number of cells implies greater probabilities that something goes wrong, but the turtles seem to challenge this pattern, they have indicated in their work.
The secret could reside in its strong defenses against cell damage, a slow metabolism that reduces cell stress and unique genes that protect them against cancer, so researchers have pointed out that these animals could offer valuable clues to prevent or treat cancer in humans and are a promising model to study healthy aging and cancer resistance.
The researcher Ylenia Chiari has corroborated the “incredible” rarity of cancer in these animals, has influenced that turtles are an unleashed model to understand cancer resistance and healthy aging, and has also valued the vital role that zoos play in the progress of science.
Several species of turtles are classified as ‘endangered’ or ‘in critical danger’ in the red list of the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN), due to different threats, including the pressure of climate change, the loss of habitat and illegal trade of pets.
Many of the zoos that contributed to the data that have served as the basis for this study participate in breeding programs for conservation that aim to save species such as these from extinction.