Is this rat the key to a long life?

WHO, on mature reflection, would opt to live forever? All might be well, at first, in eternal life but ultimately, tedium boredom and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune would render existence unbearable.

Thank God for death! Most of us, however, want to linger a little longer on this mortal coil. The ‘elixir of life’ isn’t within our grasp but research findings, revealed this month, suggest that significant improvement in life expectancy may be possible, thanks to a curious little animal.

The naked mole rat, slightly larger than a mouse, lives in the tropical grasslands of the Horn of Africa. Its sausage-shaped body, with pink wrinkled skin, is supported by little thin legs. Two walrus-like tusks, enlarged teeth, project downwards, giving it a ‘Bugs Bunny’ look. Similar ones on the lower jaw are less visible. With tiny eyes, and hairless apart from whiskers, this rodent is not the handsomest of creatures but, spending its entire life in Stygian darkness, appearance scarcely matters.