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Naked mole rats' hyaluronic acid genes can give mice a longer life

Naked mole rats’ secret to a long life is an abundance of hyaluronic acid, and new research shows this substance can also help mice live longer, age slower and avert cancer

By Grace Wade

23 May 2023

Naked mole rat genes impart ageing resistance in mice

Roland Seitre/Minden/naturepl.c​om

Mice live longer and show fewer signs of ageing when given a gene from naked mole rats which drives the production of hyaluronic acid.

Contrary to their wrinkly appearances, naked mole rats are masters of anti-ageing. They can live more than 40 years – more than six times as long as expected for a rodent their size. They also evade neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Vera Gorbunova at the University of Rochester in New York and her colleagues previously found …

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