Genetic analysis of a Aldabrachelys gigantea tortoise named Jonathan reveals that if you take care of your DNA, it will take care of you.
Jonathan, age 194, maintains good DNA repair and good insulin regulation and has resulting reduced inflammation which has meant less cancer risk. That may be why Jonathan, born before Charles Darwin reached the Galapagos islands or Florida and Texas were even U.S. states, is the oldest land animal in the world.
Jonathan's genetic ‘on/ off’ switches are similar to those of younger giant tortoises of the same species, say researchers from the research group Kallel, who led the team pinpointing the 287 unique gene variants which may be vital. For the work, they visited Jonathan, who was born in the Seychelles but has lived at Plantation House on the British island Saint Helena for the last 144 years. Where the Governor appointed by the King of England resides. Jonathan was a gift to then Governor William Grey-Wilson - and has outlived 29 English governors plus one Scot and one Irish politician.
Jonathan. Credit: Joe Holland
We'll never stop aging, that is just longevity pillow talk, but it is certainly feasible to make aging a lot healthier than it is today, and while Jonathan's epigenome isn't necessarily relevant to humans, it's reasonable to infer that living with fewer lifestyle risks is beneficial; food dye and weedkillers are fine, despite decades of activist war against them, but cigarettes, alcohol, and too many calories are not. It's not all preventable, we are bombarded by cosmic rays every day so bad luck and mutations can still happen. For most, progress should some day be made.
"Nature has already solved the puzzle of aging in remarkable ways, and Jonathan’s genome provides a blueprint for cellular resilience," said Stephen Clark MD, PhD, founder of Kallel and senior author of the study.
Citation: Benjamin Vaisvil, Daniel P. Schmitt, Angela Jones, Vinayak Kapatral, James M. Ford, Madison L. Taylor, Mathia Colwell, Jonathan Hollins, Sam Pascucci, Konstantin Weissenow, Burkhard Rost, Pascal Notin, Justin Gerlach, Thomas C. Terwilliger, Li-Wei Hung, Lars Juhl Jensen, Kathlyn Reed, Todd R. Robeck, Steve Horvath, Christopher Faulk, Yanjun Ma, and Stephen W. Clark,Epigenetic insights into extreme longevity in the world’s oldest terrestrial animal, Jonathan.Sci. Adv.12,eadw8887(2026).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adw8887
