Bowhead Whales Beat Cancer
- RRHS ScienceNHS
- Jan 8
- 2 min read
By: Srihitha Kamuni-
Cancer to this day serves as one of the world’s greatest wonders. Despite the numerous treatments modern day science has offered us, some cancers still remain avoidant of our solutions in chemotherapy and radiation.
However this all changed on October 29, 2025 when a new discovery announced a scientific breakthrough, transforming the future of cancer with bowhead whales. Using one of the most fundamental ideas in medical history, Peto’s Paradox, scientists began to discover morality and longevity in larger animals. In simple words, this principle states that the larger the animal, the more cells it has within its body. The more cells it contains, the more opportunities it has for DNA alterations and mutations to occur. Having more discrepancies in one's DNA is the ultimate leading factor to what we know today as cancer.
But how exactly do such large creations, with more opportunity for mutations to accumulate, live for so long without the same risk humans have for cancer? The answer lies just within the bowhead whale’s magnificent biological defenses, which evolution has perfected over the course of thousands of years. Researchers discovered that these whales have enhanced repair mechanisms, extra copies of tumor-suppressor genes, and also have systems that not only detect but also get rid of harmful cells before they even become malignant. Special from humans, these creatures divide their cells much more slowly, allowing them to reduce the risk of mutations from spreading as they go under programmed cell death.
As we learn more about the fantastic world beyond, the more we take away from it. Even in the case of understanding whales, we have begun to make new discoveries in medicine that will evolve the course of treatment forever.
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