Researchers are sequencing the naked mole rat’s genome to uncover how it lives over 30 years, when similarly sized rats live just four, and how it remains immune to cancer:
Unique physical traits allow naked mole rats to survive in these harsh, underground environments for so many years. And the genetic secrets of those traits are contained in the mole rats’ DNA.
Previous research has shown that the small wrinkled rodents have very little or no pain sensation in their skin and a low metabolic rate that allows them to live with limited oxygen.