About this Research Topic
In terms of health and longevity, both aging and cancer present significant hurdles, affecting all life forms on a global scale. Yet, while contemporary medicine primarily focuses on treatments post-diagnosis, nature offers promising leads through various organisms that inherently prevent these diseases. The naked mole-rat, scientifically known as Heterocephalus glaber, is particularly noteworthy for its extraordinary resistance to cancer and aging-related ailments. Recent investigations into this species have unveiled key protective mechanisms, such as superior DNA repair processes, abundant molecular chaperones to avoid protein misfolding, and a metabolism tailored to minimize oxidative stress.
This Research Topic aims to explore preventive strategies against aging and cancer by examining a broad spectrum of biological examples that exhibit natural resistance to these conditions. We encourage researchers across diverse disciplines to extract and interpret nature's preventive tools for actionable human health outcomes, using the naked mole-rat among other models as a basis for study. This Research Topic shifts the focus from conventional reactionary medicine towards proactive, preventive approaches that leverage deep biological understandings.
To gather further insights on these protective strategies, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Natural Cancer Resistance Mechanisms: Exploration of genetic, molecular, and physiological adaptations across species that curb tumor development.
• Prevention of Aging-Related Decline: Identification of strategies from long-lived species to mitigate aging effects through cellular maintenance and damage control.
• Biomarker Discovery for Early Detection and Prevention: Role of biomarkers in predicting cancer and aging-related disease onset, drawing particularly from robust species.
• Cross-Species Comparative Studies: Comparative analyses shedding light on universal and unique adaptive strategies against aging and cancer across different species.
• From Nature to Medicine: Practical translation of biological findings into therapeutic innovations, such as new drugs, gene therapies, and lifestyle adjustments mimicking natural prevention methods.
By integrating these thematic explorations, this Research Topic endeavors to reformulate preventive care paradigms in medicine, emphasizing the prevention of diseases like cancer and aging even before their onset.
This Research Topic aims to explore preventive strategies against aging and cancer by examining a broad spectrum of biological examples that exhibit natural resistance to these conditions. We encourage researchers across diverse disciplines to extract and interpret nature's preventive tools for actionable human health outcomes, using the naked mole-rat among other models as a basis for study. This Research Topic shifts the focus from conventional reactionary medicine towards proactive, preventive approaches that leverage deep biological understandings.
To gather further insights on these protective strategies, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Natural Cancer Resistance Mechanisms: Exploration of genetic, molecular, and physiological adaptations across species that curb tumor development.
• Prevention of Aging-Related Decline: Identification of strategies from long-lived species to mitigate aging effects through cellular maintenance and damage control.
• Biomarker Discovery for Early Detection and Prevention: Role of biomarkers in predicting cancer and aging-related disease onset, drawing particularly from robust species.
• Cross-Species Comparative Studies: Comparative analyses shedding light on universal and unique adaptive strategies against aging and cancer across different species.
• From Nature to Medicine: Practical translation of biological findings into therapeutic innovations, such as new drugs, gene therapies, and lifestyle adjustments mimicking natural prevention methods.
By integrating these thematic explorations, this Research Topic endeavors to reformulate preventive care paradigms in medicine, emphasizing the prevention of diseases like cancer and aging even before their onset.
Keywords: anti-cancer, anti-aging, mole-rat, animal models
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
