Tag Archives: telomeres
No, lobsters aren’t actually immortal: The science behind their long lives
In 2017, a massive 22-pound lobster named Louie, estimated by some sources to be 132 years old at the time, was pardoned after spending 20 years at a seafood restaurant in Island Park, New York. He was later deposited in the nearby coastal waters, complete with a ceremonial send-off. This story was revived in a recent Twitter conversation about the longevity of the crustacean, which has only been a dining delicacy in the United States since the mid-19th century, suggested lobsters may be immortal (Technically, Twitter user @JUNIUS_64 theorized the lobsters “made a deal with the devil for conditional immortality and it backfired on them”). The sort of “immortality” of lobsters is linked to telomeres–a structure on the end of a chromosome–that is constantly repaired in lobsters. >click to read<15:58
