St HelenaJonathan, a 194-year-old tortoise, has mitochondrial genes as efficient as a 5-year-old’s.
He is the oldest known land animal, and some of his genetic changes resemble supercentenarians’.
Researchers found 287 genes unique to him against four tortoises, and think efficient mitochondria give DNA repair more energy.
Kousuke Hashimoto of Osaka University notes only a few other tortoises served as comparison.
St Helena authorities refused a blood draw, so the genome is a composite from cheek swabs and saliva.
How each outlet framed it
- New Scientist
- emphasizes mitochondrial efficiency (as efficient as 5-year-old) enabling DNA repair, notes genetic parallels to supercentenarians
- 404 Media
- foregrounds Darwin-era timeline (1832 hatch date), catalogs specific aging pathways (DNA repair, insulin regulation, methylation)
Sources: New Scientist, 404 Media