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(Newser)
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Scientists have for the first time decoded the Great White Shark genome, and the results show that humans have a lot to learn from long-lived creatures. The genes of sharks seem particularly apt to heal their own wounds and to protect themselves from diseases, reports the daily newspaper wired. "These include DNA sequences encoding supercharged blood coagulation agents and scaffold proteins responsible for determining the fundamental units of the new flesh." In short, DNA can repair itself, according to the BBC. In addition, sharks have 41 pairs of chromosomes compared to 23 humans, and this much larger genome means that sharks have things coded in their very beings as humans.
The genome helps to understand how sharks have survived for hundreds of millions of years in dangerous waters, while living relatively immune to the disease, up to a weight of up to 7,000 pounds. Science Daily. Sharks had "surprisingly high numbers of genome stability genes" and they seem able to "make genetic adjustments" in their lifetime, said study co-leader Mahmood Shivji. Humans, not so much. "The instability of the genome is a very important problem in many serious human diseases," said Shivji, adding that the shark genome study could help to better understand the diseases, illness and disease. Alzheimer's cancer, as well as wound healing. (This woman swam with one of the biggest whites ever recorded.)
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