Naked Mole Rats as Biological Nonsense. Interview with Olga Averina

The scientists from many countries wonder how naked mole rats manage to live for over 30 years, which is not typical of rodents. Usually bigger animals – turtles, elephants and whales – are used as examples of long-livers. Olga Averina, junior research fellow at the Belozersky Research Institute of Physical and Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, told us about these long-liver animals, their natural habitat and the conditions created for them at the Moscow-based laboratory.