We see turtles portrayed as wise characters in movies and cartoons due to their long lives. Unless, of course, he is raced with a rabbit and his slowness is not noticed. Of course, living long does not directly mean wisdom, but the long life of turtles has always been a matter of curiosity.
Various scientific studies are carried out on this from time to time. One of the most recent studies was conducted by experts from George Mason University, the University of Southern Alabama, and the University of California, led by evolutionary biologist Vincent Lynch. The Galapagos Tortoises were scrutinized for the study, published in Genome Biology and Evolution.
They have extra copies of the gene
As part of the research, Galapagos Tortoises, giant tortoises that live only on the Galapagos and Aldabra Islands today and can live for more than a century, were examined. As a result of the examinations, it was understood that Galapagos Tortoises have extra copies of genes that protect them from aging-related health problems, especially cancer, compared to other turtles and animals.
In these turtles, the cell destroys itself before the damaged cells become cancerous. “It turns out that Galapagos Tortoise cells are really good at killing themselves before stress has a chance to cause diseases like cancer,” said Vincent Lynch, lead author of the study. Lynch also said that this way, drugs that can mimic this feature in turtles can be developed to treat humans.
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