On September 22nd 2024, The New York Times featured insights from AFAR Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD, in an article on newly published research into mapping The Greenland Shark’s genome to provide insights into the genetic basis of its longevity. Dr. Austad highlighted the importance of the Greenland shark’s genomic findings, pointing out that while gene duplications are interesting, they do not always have significant implications.
Dr. Austad is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the founding director of UAB’s Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, and co-director of the UAB Integrative Center for Aging Research, as well as the Co-Principal Investigator of the Nathan Shock Centers Coordinating Center.
His is the author of Methuselah's Zoo: What Nature Can Teach Us About Living Healthier, Longer Lives (2022) and Why We Age (1997, 1999), which has been translated into eight languages.
Read the article, “This Shark Lives 400 Years. Its DNA May Explain Why.” here.
Hear more insights from Dr. Austad on studying exceptional animal longevity in our Live Better Longer webinar “Secrets From the Longest-Living Animals on Earth” here.
