Evidence for improved DNA repair in the long-lived bowhead whale
Denis Firsanov, Max Zacher, Xiao Tian, Todd L. Sformo, Yang Zhao, Gregory Tombline, Jinlong Y. Lu, Zhizhong Zheng, Luigi Perelli, Enrico Gurreri, Li Zhang, Jing Guo, A. Korotkov, Valentin P. Volobaev, Seyed Ali Biashad, Zhihui Zhang, Johanna Heid, Alexander Y. Maslov, Shixiang Sun, Zhuoer Wu, Jonathan Gigas, Eric Hillpot, John Martinez, Minseon Lee, Alyssa Williams, Abbey Gilman, Nicholas Hamilton, E. P. Strelkova, Ena Haseljic, Avnee Patel, Maggie E. Straight, N. R. Miller, Julia Ablaeva, Lok Ming Tam, Chloé Couderc, Michael R. Hoopmann, Robert L. Moritz, Shingo Fujii, Amandine Pelletier, Dan J. Hayman, Hongrui Liu, Yuxuan Cai, Anthony K. L. Leung, Zhengdong Zhang, C. Bradley Nelson, Lisa M. Abegglen, Joshua D. Schiffman, Vadim N. Gladyshev, Carlo C. Maley, Mauro Modesti, Giannicola Genovese, Mirre J. P. Simons, Jan Vijg, Andrei Seluanov, Vera Gorbunova
Abstract
, the bowhead whale maintains genome integrity through enhanced DNA repair. This strategy, which does not eliminate damaged cells but faithfully repairs them, may be contributing to the exceptional longevity and low cancer incidence in the bowhead whale.