The Extraordinary Lifespan of a Lobster
The secrets of immortality may be contained in lobster DNA. These incredible animals do not die of old age, but instead grow indefinitely until they can no longer muster the energy needed to molt. The oldest recorded lobsters ranged between 120-140 years old, and weighed around 9 kilograms (about 20 pounds). Should a lobster avoid predators and find an infinite source of energy, they could theoretically live forever. These creatures very rarely get cancer, and will never face issues such as creaky joints. Humans typically only view lobsters as a delicious food source, but they also might have the capability to show us how to live forever. The paper “What lobsters can teach us about immortality” dives deeper into the genetic reasons why lobsters are able to age so gracefully.
All organisms are made up of cells. These cells reproduce by splitting into two daughter cells, each with an identical copy of the original’s DNA. This process has the potential to expose these DNA strands to catastrophic damage, but the telomeres on either side of the strand protect the genetic code from damage. These telomeres “act like the plastic end of a shoelace, preventing it from fraying.” Just like a shoelace cap, these telomeres slowly erode over time, exposing DNA to damage, and causing the symptoms we call “aging.” The difference between lobsters and humans is that lobsters produce a high amount of an enzyme called telomerase, which repairs damaged telomeres. Humans also produce telomerase, but at a much lower rate than lobsters. These enzymes allow lobster cells to divide a theoretically infinite amount of times, whereas our cells will eventually begin degrading.
Although lobster telomerase is a fascinating area of research with potentially massive ramifications on the medical world, there are still a few large hurdles before we can achieve immortality. Unfortunately, the cells in our body that produce this enzyme are also generally the source of cancer. Often, telomerase in a human body will only protect cancerous cells, keeping those harmful cells alive while our healthy cells degrade. We have a long way to go before telomerase therapy can help us prevent aging, but we can still use lobsters as an area of further research for major medical breakthroughs.
Posted by: Ryan Horrigan (2)
Article Citation:
z3538047. 2022 Sep 20. What lobsters can teach us about immortality. UNSW Newsroom. [accessed 2023 Oct 1]. https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/health/what-lobsters-can-teach-us-about-immortality#:~:text=The%20secret%20to%20lobster%20longevity&text=Telomerase%20restores%20the%20length%20of.
Hi Ryan! Lobsters are so much cooler than I originally thought. It's so crazy that telomerase is such a double edged sword in the animal kingdom. Having the same enzyme both cause cancer and be the source of immortality for two different beings is wild to me. What kills us literally makes them stronger. I wonder if there were a way to increase human expression of telomerase and still allow for accurate replication of cells if humans could stop aging, too. Immortality certainly is a rabbit hole of many different factors and toeing the line between too much and too little cell replication. It's nice to know that at least lobsters can enjoy living forever.
ReplyDeleteI'm incredibly fascinated at how nature can produce a single enzyme that has so many variable effects across different species. The earth produced a molecule, and then separately produced two biological systems that have totally different responses to said molecule. It is very interesting to think what humanity would look like if we had this feature. Sickness would take zero more lives, and our lifespan would be entirely dependent on our risk assessment and our ability to access food.
DeleteHey Ryan - I had no idea lobsters lived like this! I've been familiar with the telomerase and the idea that if we could figure out a way to express in that protects our healthy cells from degrading, we could theoretically become immortal. What I wasn't aware of was how telomerase actually protects cancer cells, but this makes sense! I wonder what developments are being made in this area and if the end goal is to allow us to truly live forever. Outside of general scientific curiosity I'd figure most people would not want that fate.
ReplyDeleteIt really is incredibly interesting to think about the potential for telomerase in humans. Lobsters have natural issues like a lack of energy or predators, but finding a way to eliminate disease/cancer would remove the vast majority of causes of death in humans. That being said, we have no idea what telomerase acting this way in humans would look like. Would we continue to grow indefinitely, just like lobsters? We have no idea, which makes this area of research even more interesting!
DeleteHi Ryan! This is by far one of the most interesting things I've read in a while (I did not realize lobsters were so cool)! The fact that lobsters can practically live forever is wild to me. I did not know that the cells that produce the enzyme telomerase are not only responsible for allowing lobster cells to divide indefinitely, but also are the source of cancer in our bodies. You did an amazing job explaining this phenomenon and I really am curious now on to what progress has been made in regards to translating this to extending the human lifespan. Anyways, I'll definitely think about this the next time I'm munching on UMass Amherst's lobster dinner!
ReplyDeleteHi Ryan! This is such an interesting topic. I am familiar with telomerase and its role in human aging, but I didn't know its role in other species. In research, lobsters are not the first thing to be tested on when it comes to human medicinal advances; however, further studying telomerase in lobsters may be key to discovering how it could protect our healthy cells from degrading. I also find it horrifying that a lobster dies this way. Hopefully in the future, we can find a way to prolong their lifespan so that they may not succumb to this horrific way of dying.
ReplyDelete-Lyssa Cunha
DeleteHey Ryan, I really enjoyed reading your post about telomerase functionality in lobsters. In previous courses I have learned about the various functions of telomerase in humans. I never would've thought that lobsters produce this enzyme at an exponentially higher level. It would be very fascinating to me if the biological community somehow took advantage of this phenomenon, especially by providing immunity to deadly diseases and cancer. Also, because you sparked my interest in this subject, I found this article which highlights telomerase in humans: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288515. It was very insightful and informative.
ReplyDelete-Matthew Rosen
DeleteThat is an incredibly interesting article! Although it may be very challenging to get telomerase to function in humans the same way it functions in lobsters, I didn't consider that we could simply lengthen telomeres. We wouldn't gain immortality, but we could potentially reduce disease risk from a very early stage.
DeleteHi Ryan, this is a great topic and post! I've heard this fact about lobsters being 'immortal' a little bit ago and always thought that as humans if we just figured out how to ensure our telomeres wouldn't shorten we would be set... but now I know it is not the same in humans as it is in lobsters. Probably for the better to be honest. But thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete- Chloe Springer
This is such an interesting topic! I had no idea at all that lobsters can live that long and I also did not know about their rapid telomerase production. It would be really cool if somehow, scientists can take something away from this and apply it to humans or other organisms--not only to help us live longer, but it even could be used as a way to treat cancer!
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