Information encoded in bat DNA may help humans achieve longer lifespans. University of California Berkeley postdoctoral fellow Juan Manuel Vazquez teamed up with undergraduates to collect small biopsy samples of the wing from the bat genus Myotis to analyze the genome. They found a connection between the bat’s lifespan and immune function.. The Myotis bat’s genome showed a large amount of genes that produce proteins interacting with DNA viruses. These proteins help coordinate with immune defenses. Humans, on the other hand, have genes that mostly interact with RNA viruses. The team grew cells collected from the bat’s wings and exposed those cells to neocarzinostatin- an antitumor antibiotic and protein complex that damages DNA to stop the growth of cancer cells to see how the cells responded. The cells from the long-lived bat Myotis lucifugus demonstrated increased activity of the genes that promote cell death, more so than the genes that promote DNA repair proteins. The bat’s cells prioritized killing the damaged cells first, preventing the damaged cells from doing harm. With more research, we may learn more about bat’s secrets to a longer life, and how to help humans live longer as well, or at least fight infections better.