*I knew those little guys would be good for something. Imagine the fun when your wife comes back from the gene-splice clinic with the teeth and the skin.
http://extremelongevity.net/2012/05/08/naked-mole-rat-proteosomes-discovered-to-be-longevity-clue/
"Naked mole rats are a unique rodent that have lifespans of over 30 years, more than 10 fold the lifespan of typical rodents.
"Recently the genome of the naked mole rat has been sequenced, and researchers continue to work extensively with the animal to discover reasons for its profound longevity.
"Indeed any learnings gleaned from this animal could lead to advances in human longevity.
"New research is a breakthrough of sorts, it reveals an important ingredient for why the animal live so long.
"Proteosomes are cellular organelles or machines that function to break down and recycle damaged proteins within cells. As cells live proteins are created and then damaged through oxidative stress. Damaged proteins for one thing cause cells to dysfunction. They also may aggregate into clumps which can damage or kill the cell. Protein damage is a major underlying cause of aging.
"It is important for cells to detect and destroy damaged proteins. They do so through the ubiquitin proteasome system which tags defective proteins with ubiquitin molecules and then degrades them in the proteasomes...."
