Overview
- An international team reports preserved retinal structure, blue‑shifted rhodopsin sensitivity around 458 nm, and light‑transmitting corneas that together indicate functional vision in adults.
- Analyses combined genomic, molecular, and histological data from sharks collected under a Greenland research permit between 2020 and 2024.
- All examined individuals were estimated to be over 100 years old, with the oldest above 130, and their retinas showed no signs of degeneration.
- The assembled genome revealed vision‑related genes remain intact and active, countering long‑held assumptions of near blindness driven by deep habitats and eye parasites.
- Authors propose longevity‑linked maintenance, potentially involving DNA repair, as a hypothesis to explain preserved vision, with mechanisms and relevance to humans still unconfirmed and slated for further study.