Life
How Greenland sharks live for hundreds of years without going blind
Greenland sharks show no signs of retinal degeneration despite living for up to 400 years, and scientists have identified genetic adaptations that may explain how
By James Woodford
1 May 2025
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Greenland sharks’ eyes don’t seem to deteriorate with ageWaterFrame/Alamy
Greenland sharks, the longest-lived vertebrates in the world, show no signs of physical deterioration in their retinas even after living for hundreds of years. The finding is especially surprising as some scientists suspected the animals were functionally blind since they live in such deep, dark waters.
Lily Fogg at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and her colleagues conducted physical studies of the eyes of eight dead Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) and sequenced their DNA.
Read moreThe extraordinary ways species control their own evolutionary fate
In humans and most other…
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