The genetic healing powers of the Great White Shark have been decoded

Sharks gave us a lot.

Thanks to the sharks, we have Jaws, the theme song of Jaws, the greatest cinematic masterpiece in flight of all time. The mega (with Jason Statham) and uh … baby shark.

Now, thanks to science, they have revealed to us the secrets of their genes.

An international team of researchers from the Sharon Research Center of the Save Our Seas Foundation of Nova Southeastern University (NSU), the Guy Harvey Research Institute (IRSH), the College of Veterinary Medicine of the United States. Cornell University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium have decoded in detail the genome of the great shark. As a result, they discovered some interesting facts.

But first the genome itself. The genus of the great white shark contains one and a half times more information than the human genome (they have 41 pairs of chromosomes, while humans have 23 pairs). Sharks also include a number of genetic changes that demonstrate the shark's success from an evolutionary perspective.

For example, relatively speaking, great white sharks are better than humans do not catch cancer Given their size and lifespan (great white sharks can live up to 70 years in the wild), scientists were surprised at the resilience of great white sharks against cancer. This is partly due to the stability of the Great White Shark genome. In simple terms: the big white has genetic adaptations that help preserve the genome.

Sharks are also well known for their regenerative abilities. In short: great white sharks heal extremely fast. The key to their success in this area is also in their genes.

"We have found positive selections and enrichments in genetic content involving several genes related to some of the most fundamental pathways of wound healing, including a key gene for blood clotting," said Michael Stanhope, Ph.D. ., from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. "These adaptations involving wound healing genes may underlie the much vaunted ability of sharks to effectively heal even large wounds."

Scientists could use these results and apply them to future anticancer drugs.