The secret to a long life might be found in clams, mussels, and oysters.
Sea creatures could possess the secret to a long life
At least that’s what researchers from Italy's University of Bologna claim in a recent study published in Genome Biology and Evolution.
The scientists have revealed they found certain genes in these creatures that allow them to live more than 500 years, and believe this could be important to discover the secrets of longevity.
According to the researchers, the creatures have a network of genes that evolve in a different way, depending on whether they are long-lived or short-lived.
Additionally, the Daily Mirror newspaper says the scientists revealed that many of these genes are also related to longevity in other animals.
One of the scientists, Mariangela Iannello, said: "An important implication of this finding is that an extension of lifespan may involve common genetic factors in very distantly related species.
"The results obtained in this work made us thrilled to explore longevity in more species. In particular, we would like to investigate if the evolutionary signals in genes with a potential role in longevity are somehow shared across long-lived species from different groups."