Bats can help people live

Bats' proteins are resistant to aging, so they live much longer than those of the same size. This finding may lead to the introduction of life-long drugs.

For years, scientists have been keen to find answers to the question: Why do bats live longer than mammals of the same size, such as mice? Now a group of biologists from the University of Texas (USA) claim they have found the answer.

"We have discovered a mechanism that helps bats live longer than other mammals. This discovery could help scientists develop therapies that reduce the speed of human aging," Asish Chaudhuri said. , University of Texas biochemistry professor, said.

Aging the body is the term for the process of growth and aging of the organism. Old age of organisms leads to a decline in resistance to stress, increased risk of disease and hormonal weight loss. Death is the final outcome of the aging process. Many scientists claim that old age is just a form of disease that can be cured. This issue is controversial in biology.

Bats' proteins have the ability to block or slow down oxidation.Photo: theamblerfamily.com.

The oxidation process destroys microstructures (such as cells, proteins) in the organism over time. That change makes all species become old and weak when age increases. Asish and colleagues extracted many proteins from the liver of Tadarida brasiliensis and Myotis velifer - two species of bats known for their long life - and mice. They put proteins into powerful oxidizing chemicals. The team found that bat's protein level was much lower than that of mice. This suggests that bats have some mechanism that helps proteins prevent or slow down oxidation.

"Perhaps the ancients did not seem too trivial to create stories about immortal elixir. Because bats are winged rodents, the protein's resistance to them helps defeat the rats in the world. That ability can lead scientists to anti-aging drugs, " said Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of the journal Experimental Biology FASEB Journal.

According to Weissmann, bats' resistance to aging may stem from a mechanism or chemical and finding it is only a matter of time.