Overview
- A University of Rochester–led team reports that bowhead whales carry roughly 100-fold higher levels of the DNA repair protein CIRBP than humans, focusing on repair of double-strand breaks.
- CIRBP production rises when temperature drops, pointing to a cold-triggered mechanism consistent with the whales’ Arctic environment.
- Expressing bowhead CIRBP improved DNA repair in human cells and increased lifespan in fruit flies in laboratory experiments.
- Bowhead cells accumulated fewer mutations and showed traits consistent with lower cancer risk, offering a potential explanation to Peto’s paradox.
- Published on Oct. 29 in Nature, the study used tissues from permitted Iñupiaq hunts, and follow-up work includes CIRBP-boosted mouse models and exploration of cold exposure or drugs, with experts urging caution on translating to people.