{"id":126855,"date":"2021-08-28T17:01:25","date_gmt":"2021-08-29T00:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/can-greenland-sharks-improve-human-longevity"},"modified":"2021-08-28T17:01:25","modified_gmt":"2021-08-29T00:01:25","slug":"can-greenland-sharks-improve-human-longevity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/can-greenland-sharks-improve-human-longevity","title":{"rendered":"Can Greenland Sharks Improve Human Longevity?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Are there vertebrates occupying the planet today whose lifespans extend back to before the founding of the United States? Based on recent research, it seems very likely \u2014 and they exist in the form of sharks whose fermented meat are used in a very distinctive Icelandic dish<\/a>. Scientists have found evidence that Greenland sharks live for hundreds of years \u2014 and that there are some whose lifespans extend<\/a> to 400 or even 500 years.<\/p>\n

For some scientists, the lengthy lifespans of certain creatures can also have an impact on research into making humans live longer. That\u2019s true for the immortal jellyfish<\/a>, and it also applies to the Greenland shark. A recent article by Jonathan Moens at Atlas Obscura explores what scientists have learned from their studies of the long-lived sharks<\/a> \u2014 and what it might mean for humanity.<\/p>\n

Greenland sharks\u2019 longevity could be chalked up to genetic or lifestyle factors, or some combination of the two. The University of Manchester\u2019s Holly Shiels suggested that, as Moens writes, \u201cGreenland sharks may have a uniquely sophisticated system to repair damaged DNA.\u201d Other scientists point to the sharks\u2019 habitat \u2014 cold Arctic waters \u2014 and their ability to live for a long period of time on a relatively small amount of food as signs of a very efficient metabolism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are there vertebrates occupying the planet today whose lifespans extend back to before the founding of the United States? Based on recent research, it seems very likely \u2014 and they exist in the form of sharks whose fermented meat are used in a very distinctive Icelandic dish. Scientists have found evidence that Greenland sharks live [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":362,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,412,269],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-genetics","category-life-extension"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126855\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}