According to reports from foreign media, on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, there lives a species of animal recognized by the Guinness World Records as the "oldest" in the world, named "Jonathan," a giant tortoise.

According to the Guinness World Records, in 2019, Jonathan was 187 years old. He was born in 1832 during the reign of Queen Victoria, which means he was 80 years old when the Titanic sank into the depths of the North Atlantic.

Jordan Donini, a biology professor and sea turtle ecologist at Florida Southwest State University, said that Jonathan and other giant tortoises are not the only turtles with exceptionally long lifespans.

In an interview with media reporters, he stated that turtles typically can live between 50-100 years, and box turtles can live even longer, sometimes surviving for over a century. Scientists do not know the maximum lifespan of most turtle species because humans do not live long enough to find the exact answer.

Lori Newman-Lee, Associate Professor of Physiology at Arkansas State University, has researched turtles and other reptiles for many years. She said, "This is an evolutionary and biological question, and we should unravel the mystery of turtle longevity from these two aspects."

The answer from evolution theory is relatively simple: animals like snakes and raccoons like to eat turtle eggs. To pass on their genes, turtles must survive for a long time, reproduce frequently, sometimes multiple times a year, and lay many eggs. Newman-Lee said, "Considering the number of offspring turtles have, it is somewhat surprising that turtles are not overly abundant globally."

The biological mechanisms behind turtle longevity are more complex. Newman-Lee stated that an essential clue to turtle longevity is their telomeres, structures made up of non-coding DNA chains covering the ends of chromosomes, helping protect them during cell division. As time passes, telomeres shorten or degrade, meaning they can no longer defend their chromosomes, leading to problems with DNA replication, which can cause tumors and cell death.

However, compared to shorter-lived animals, turtles have a lower rate of telomere shortening, which means they can better resist some of the damage caused by DNA replication errors.

Scientists have not confirmed all the factors contributing to turtle longevity, but they have proposed some ideas. In a study published on July 8th, researchers explored mechanisms and found substances that cause long-term cellular damage and death. They observed the cellular workings of several turtle species, including the species to which "long-lived turtle Jonathan" belongs.

According to this paper, giant tortoises and some other turtle species seem to protect themselves from the long-term effects of cellular damage. Newman-Lee stated they can rapidly kill damaged cells through apoptosis or programmed cell death.

One treatment method can induce oxidative stress, which naturally occurs in living cells caused by free radicals, highly reactive molecules formed naturally during metabolic processes. After treatment, turtle cells quickly undergo apoptosis.

The paper emphasizes that controlling apoptosis is very valuable because removing a damaged cell quickly by a biological organism can prevent deadly diseases like cancer.

The cells of all species except turtles do not respond to the operation of destroying telomeres, which are essential for DNA replication. In other words, the telomeres of turtle organisms can continue to function normally. Newman-Lee stated that whether turtles completely resist DNA replication still needs further confirmation, but this may be one of the reasons for their longevity.