I spent more time yesterday learning about the naked mole rat than I ever thought I would. The naked mole rat, it turns out, is virtually cancer-proof. They also can live up to ten times longer than any other rodent, which is why I decided to make this sketch of a geriatric naked mole rat.
Naked mole rats are not naked (they have a few straggly hairs), and they are niether moles nor rats. Their closest analogue is a guinea pig. They spend their lives underground in stuffy burrows, so they don't get much oxygen to breathe. They lack Substance P in their skin, Substance P being a natural neurotransmitter used to generate the sensation of pain. Unlike practically every other mammal, naked mole rats live in colonies like bees and ants, where mostly sterile males and females work in the service of a single fertile queen. You cannot have a single naked mole rat as a pet, as one would die without its colony.
So these little guys are tough, communal, resistant to pain and disease, and they live forever compared to any other rodent. In 2011, scientists successfully mapped their genome. This year, we've seen some results in comparing naked mole rat genes to our own in the hopes of undertstanding longevity and cancer control. It turns out that we can produce an artificial hormone not unlike what the naked mole rat uses to extend the human life span by ten years. Unfortunately, the main side effect destroys our immune system so you'd essentially gain a few years but with AIDS.
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