Comment on 'Naked mole-rat mortality rates defy Gompertzian laws by not increasing with age'.
Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31287058.
- Also identified by DOI 10.7554/eLife.45415 and PMC identifier 6615855.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Ruby et al. recently analyzed historical lifespan data on more than 3200 naked mole-rats, collected over a total observation period of about 38 years (Ruby et al., 2018). They report that mortality hazards do not seem to increase across the full range of their so-far-observed lifespan, and conclude that this defiance of Gompertz's law 'uniquely identifies the naked mole-rat as a non-aging mammal'. Here, we explain why we believe this conclusion is premature.
Medical subject headings
- Longevity
- Mole Rats