IF HUMANS lived as long relative to body size as naked mole rats, we would last for 600 years. These mouse-sized, subterranean African mammals live for over 30 years, and if that wasn’t impressive enough, they don’t get cancer. Now we have a clue why, which could lead to treatments for a variety of human conditions.

Vera Gorbunova at the University of Rochester in New York and colleagues have found that the extracellular matrix in naked mole rats – the gloop that supports tissues – is rich in a substance that stops cancers growing.