All mammals can develop cancer, the rapid growth of harmful cells that can overtake normal cells and compromise their ability to function. Scientists have long observed that a species of nearly-hairless subterranean rodents from eastern Africa are surprisingly long-lived and demonstrate a pronounced resistance to cancer. A new study led by Andrei Gudkov, Ph.
D., DSci, at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center supports a new understanding of what might be driving the species' propensity for avoiding cancer—its noteworthy evolutionary stability. New insights about that species, the naked mole-rat, and the clues its genes may hold for ways to prevent or control cancer's development in other mammals are reported in a study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
Nearly half of our DNA is made up of the "dark genome," ancient virus-like elements called retrotransposons that reproduce rapidly and were once thought to have no effect on human biology. But extensive evidence now suggests strongly that these once-ignored genes—which Dr. Gudkov collectively calls "the retrobiome"—are implicated in both aging and cancer.
"Normally dormant in healthy cells, these genetic elements often become reactivated in cancer cells , contributing to cancer development and progression," says Dr. Gudkov, senior author on the new study and Senior Vice President for Research Technology and Innovation/The Garman Family Chair in Cell Stress Biology at Roswell Park. "There is.