507-year-old clam Ming 'world's oldest creature'
- From: Daily Mail
- November 14, 2013
A 507-YEAR-OLD clam could help unlock the secrets to a long life, scientists say.
Dubbed Ming, the mollusc was discovered seven years ago on a seabed near Iceland and was initially thought to be an incredible 405-years-old.
But scientists have now confirmed that Ming is even older, The Daily Mail reports.
And they now hope that Ming's longevity will help them better understand the processes of ageing and how to maybe even slow it down.
"If, in Arctica islandica, evolution has created a model of successful resistance to the damage of ageing, it is possible that an investigation of the tissues of these real life Methuselahs might help us to understand the processes of ageing," said researcher Chris Richardson.
Not knowing how old the mollusc was when they first found it, the researchers from Bangor University decided to open its shell for analysis, killing Ming in the process.