This shark can live 400 years. Its eyes barely seem to age
Greenland sharks may live for 400 years without suffering the kind of retinal decline normally associated with aging.
Greenland sharks may live for 400 years without suffering the kind of retinal decline normally associated with aging.
The short version
- Researchers found healthy eye tissue and active proteins specially adapted for seeing blue light in the dim Arctic depths.
- DNA repair mechanisms may help keep their eyes functioning across centuries.
- The discovery could eventually offer new clues for protecting human vision as we age.
What happened
Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk watches a Greenland shark glide slowly through the dark waters of the Arctic on her computer screen. "You see it move its eye," says the University of California, Irvine associate professor of physiology and biophysics, pointing to the footage.
Why it matters
"The shark is tracking the light -- it's fascinating." Greenland sharks are the longest-living vertebrates known to science, with some individuals surviving for as long as 400 years.
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