Bats are unusually long-lived for their size. The Brandt’s bat holds the record, with some individuals living more than 40 years. Greater mouse-eared bats can live into their late 30s, while little brown bats often reach around 20 years of age.
Their longevity—and their remarkable resistance to cancer—has long intrigued scientists.
Now, a team at the University of Rochester is working to uncover why.
Central to this anti-cancer arsenal is a gene called p53. Humans have it too — it helps suppress tumours by ordering cells with damaged DNA to self-destruct, in a process called apoptosis. But, in humans, high levels of p53 can be dangerous. Too much apoptosis can eliminate healthy cells, leading to tissue damage and accelerated aging.
But in bats (and elephants!), it’s a different story.
The research team, led by biologists Vera Gorbunova and Andrei Seluanov, found that little brown bats not only have two copies of the p53 gene, as well as heightened p53 activity compared to humans. They were also found to have an enhanced system that balances apoptosis effectively.
Another key factor is telomerase, an enzyme that helps maintain the protective caps on chromosomes known as telomeres. In most mammals, telomerase activity declines with age, leading to cell death or dysfunction. Bats, however, keep telomerase active, which supports tissue regeneration during aging and injury.
Bats are also known for their extraordinary immune systems. They’re able to carry — and survive — deadly viruses like Ebola and SARS without getting sick. This immune resilience likely evolved to help them cope with the high metabolic demands of flight.
This immune hyper-vigilance may also contribute to cancer resistance. By detecting and clearing out abnormal cells early, bats can keep cancer in check before it can gain a foothold.
Why bats and not us?
Cancer is a multistage process. It typically requires a series of mutations — or “hits” — for a normal cell to become cancerous. Longer-lived species, including humans, have more time to accumulate these hits, especially when combined with external stressors like radiation, pollution, and unhealthy lifestyle factors. Humans are estimated to require anywhere from three to eight such hits for cancer to develop.
“Unexpectedly, unlike other long-lived mammals, bat fibroblasts are readily transformed by two oncogenic ‘hits,’” the researchers write.
And yet, because bats possess the other robust tumour-suppressor mechanisms, they survive.
This suggests that boosting p53 activity — or mimicking the bat’s balanced system — might hold promise for new cancer therapies. Several anti-cancer drugs already target p53 activity, and more are being studied.
The team theorises that safely increasing the telomerase enzyme might also be a way to apply their findings to humans with cancer.
These findings were published in Nature Communications.
Amazing bats
