TY  - JOUR
TI  - The naked truth: a comprehensive clarification and classification of current ‘myths’ in naked mole‐rat biology
AU  - Rochelle Buffenstein
AU  - Vincent Amoroso
AU  - Blazej Andziak
AU  - Stanislav Avdieiev
AU  - Jorge Azpurua
AU  - Alison J. Barker
AU  - Nigel C. Bennett
AU  - Miguel A. Brieño‐Enríquez
AU  - Gary N. Bronner
AU  - Clive W. Coen
AU  - Martha A. Delaney
AU  - Samuel D. Crish
AU  - Yael H. Edrey
AU  - Chris G. Faulkes
AU  - Daniel Frankel
AU  - Gérard Friedlander
AU  - Patrick A. Gibney
AU  - Vera Gorbunova
AU  - Christopher Hine
AU  - Melissa M. Holmes
AU  - J. U. M. Jarvis
AU  - Yoshimi Kawamura
AU  - Nobuyuki Kutsukake
AU  - Cynthia Kenyon
AU  - Walid T. Khaled
AU  - Takefumi Kikusui
AU  - Joseph L. Kissil
AU  - Samantha Lagestee
AU  - John Larson
AU  - Amanda M. Lauer
AU  - Leonid A. Lavrenchenko
AU  - Angela Lee
AU  - Jonathan B. Levitt
AU  - Gary R. Lewin
AU  - Kaitlyn N. Lewis Hardell
AU  - Tzuhua D. Lin
AU  - Matthew J. Mason
AU  - Daniel P. McCloskey
AU  - Mary McMahon
AU  - Kyoko Miura
AU  - Kazutaka Mogi
AU  - Vikram Narayan
AU  - Timothy P. O’Connor
AU  - Kazuo Okanoya
AU  - M. Justin O’Riain
AU  - Thomas J. Park
AU  - Ned J. Place
AU  - Katie Podshivalova
AU  - Matthew E. Pamenter
AU  - Sonja J. Pyott
AU  - Jane Reznick
AU  - J. Graham Ruby
AU  - Adam B. Salmon
AU  - Joseph Santos‐Sacchi
AU  - Diana K. Sarko
AU  - Andrei Seluanov
AU  - Alyssa Shepard
AU  - Megan Smith
AU  - Kenneth B. Storey
AU  - Xiao Tian
AU  - Emily N. Vice
AU  - Mélanie Viltard
AU  - Akiyuki Watarai
AU  - Ewa Wywiał
AU  - Masanori Yamakawa
AU  - Elena D. Zemlemerova
AU  - Michael Zions
AU  - Ewan St. John Smith
PY  - 2021
JO  - Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
DO  - 10.1111/brv.12791
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12791
AB  - The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) has fascinated zoologists for at least half a century. It has also generated considerable biomedical interest not only because of its extraordinary longevity, but also because of unusual protective features (e.g. its tolerance of variable oxygen availability), which may be pertinent to several human disease states, including ischemia/reperfusion injury and neurodegeneration. A recent article entitled 'Surprisingly long survival of premature conclusions about naked mole-rat biology' described 28 'myths' which, those authors claimed, are a 'perpetuation of beautiful, but falsified, hypotheses' and impede our understanding of this enigmatic mammal. Here, we re-examine each of these 'myths' based on evidence published in the scientific literature. Following Braude et al., we argue that these 'myths' fall into four main categories: (i) 'myths' that would be better described as oversimplifications, some of which persist solely in the popular press; (ii) 'myths' that are based on incomplete understanding, where more evidence is clearly needed; (iii) 'myths' where the accumulation of evidence over the years has led to a revision in interpretation, but where there is no significant disagreement among scientists currently working in the field; (iv) 'myths' where there is a genuine difference in opinion among active researchers, based on alternative interpretations of the available evidence. The term 'myth' is particularly inappropriate when applied to competing, evidence-based hypotheses, which form part of the normal evolution of scientific knowledge. Here, we provide a comprehensive critical review of naked mole-rat biology and attempt to clarify some of these misconceptions.
ER  -