Science honors mole mice

The hairless mouse in the picture could of course not win any beauty contest in the animal world, but it was recently honored as the Year's Vertebrate Animal by the Science magazine.

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Thanks to two research works of the University of Rochester (USA), the prestigious Science magazine chose hairless moles as the backbone animal of the year.

Heterocephalus glaber rats are ugly and blind but hold the key of anti-cancer key - (Photo: Creative Commons)

According to Science, long-lived and habitable rodents can provide the necessary knowledge in the field of cancer treatment.

Heterocephalus glaber mice in East Africa can live up to 30 years in perfect health and never get cancer.

When announcing the choice for the 2013 Invertebrate title, Science led studies by experts Vera Gorbunova and Andrei Seluanov, to investigate the mole's biological characteristics and unique resistance. cancer.

The two experts hope their studies could one day lead to therapies aimed at preventing or controlling cancer in humans.