Mammals have a very wide range in life spans, and the study of mammals might be thought to be more relevant to efforts to extend human longevity than the study of other taxonomic classes. It is quite unclear at this time whether moving genes and mechanisms between mammalian species is likely to produce meaningful gains cost-effectively in the near future, but we certainly won’t know if we don’t try. Meanwhile, bivalves are another class with a large range in species life span. There is much to be said for undertaking the same sort of search for the determinants of species life span in bivalves as is presently ongoing in mammals. Having results for two quite different classes is likely to be more illuminatin…
Revisiting Bivalves for the Study of the Determinants of Species Lifespan
Mammals have a very wide range in life spans, and the study of mammals might be thought to be more relevant to efforts to extend human longevity than the study of other taxonomic classes. It is quite unclear at this time whether moving genes and mechanisms between mammalian species is likely to produce meaningful gains cost-effectively in the near future, but we certainly won’t know if we don’t try. Meanwhile, bivalves are another class with a large range in species life span. There is much to be said for undertaking the same sort of search for the determinants of species life span in bivalves as is presently ongoing in mammals. Having results for two quite different classes is likely to be more illuminatin…