Bat genomes suggest links between long life and virus defenses
Researchers assembled genomes for eight Myotis bat species and linked the repeated evolution of long life to natural selection in cancer-related genes.
Limit: Suppressing active DNA transposons offers an alternative explanation for selection in DNA-virus-interacting genes
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In eight closely related Myotis bat species, researchers generated near-complete genome sequences and cell lines for a comparative genetic study with laboratory cell experiments. They linked the repeated evolution of long life to positive selection—evolution favoring genetic changes—in genes involved in cancer-related processes.
Bats also showed different patterns of adaptation to viruses compared with other mammals. Positive selection was especially common in genes for proteins that interact with DNA viruses. Genes for proteins that interact with RNA viruses showed elevated rates of variation in the number of gene copies. In laboratory experiments, cells from the long-lived bat Myotis lucifugus also showed a distinctive response to DNA damage.
Why it matters
By examining cancer-related genes and virus defenses, the study addressed whether shared evolutionary adaptations may connect immunity with longevity and age-related disease.
Caveats
Genome comparisons reveal evolutionary associations, not proof that particular genetic changes lengthen life. The functional experiments tested cells, not lifespan in living bats or effects in people.
The paper
Insights into longevity and virus-driven adaptation from Myotis bat genomes
Pennsylvania State University; University of California, Berkeley
Nature, Aug 26, 2026, Open access
