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Greenland shark genome reveals clues to 400-year lifespan

Phys · · 561 words · By Paul Arnold
Medical Potential Genetics and Longevity
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What to know about Medical Potential

Researchers from the University of Tokyo and an international team have mapped 96.7% of the Greenland shark's genome. The study identifies genetic features, such as amino acid substitutions in the histone H1.0 protein and an expansion of the FTH1b gene, that may contribute to the species' extreme lifespan and resistance to cellular damage.

Propaganda risk 10%
Claims checked 11
Techniques found 1
Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center67%
Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

June 3, 2026 report Greenland shark genome reveals clues to 400-year lifespan Paul Arnold Author Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor The first comprehensive map of nearly the entire Greenland shark genome is beginning to reveal some of…

Why it matters

The work could one day help scientists develop new cures and treatments for cancer and other age-related diseases.

Common ground

Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) are incredible animals.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Researchers from the University of Tokyo and an international team have mapped 96.7% of the Greenland shark's genome. The study identifies genetic features, such as amino acid substitutions in the histone H1.0 protein and an expansion of the FTH1b gene, that may contribute to the species' extreme lifespan and resistance to cellular damage.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-06-greenland-shark-genome-reveals-clues.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 70% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule Pending 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
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Claim 1: “can take around 150 years to reach sexual maturity”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web sources state that Greenland sharks take approximately 150 years to reach sexual maturity.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since 2025, the second Donald Trump administration of the United States has sought to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark (itself in the European Union), triggering an ongoing internat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_crisis
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), also known as the grey shark or gurry shark, is a large shark of the family Somniosidae ("sleeper sharks"), closely related to the Pacific and southern s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Nuuk (Greenlandic pronunciation: [nuːk] ; Danish: Godthåb) is the capital and most populous city of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. It is the seat of the Sermersooq municipality and the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuuk
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 2: “Kaiqiao Yang et al, The Greenland shark genome: Insights into lifespan extremes and population dynamics, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2601272123”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 3: “Shigeharu Kinoshita at the University of Tokyo, and an international team of scientists have successfully mapped 96.7% of the shark's genome, around 5.9 billion DNA base pairs”
CORROBORATED
Two separate web search results confirm that Shigeharu Kinoshita and a team from the University of Tokyo mapped 96.7% of the genome, totaling 5.9 billion base pairs.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Greenland shark, also known as the grey shark or gurry shark, is a large shark of the family Somniosidae, closely related to the Pacific and southern sleeper sharks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark
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web search NEUTRAL — Feb 22, 2025 ... Here, we report the first, chromosome-level assembly of the Greenland shark genome, which is 5.9 Gb in size with an N50 length of 233 Mb, and ...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.19.638963v1.…
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web search NEUTRAL — Shigeharu Kinoshita at the University of Tokyo, and an international team of scientists have successfully mapped 96.7% of the shark's genome, around 5.9 billion DNA base pairs.
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-greenland-shark-genome-reveals…
info
Claim 4: “One of the most significant is amino acid substitutions in the histone H1.0 protein”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of general Wikipedia entries about Greenland's geography and society, which do not mention the histone H1.0 protein.
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web search NEUTRAL — Greenland is socially progressive, like metropolitan Denmark; education and healthcare are free, and LGBTQ rights in Greenland are some of the most extensive in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland
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web search NEUTRAL — Greenland is located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada and northwest of Iceland. The territory comprises the island of Greenland—the largest island in the worl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Greenland
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web search NEUTRAL — May 22, 2026 · Greenland, the world’s largest island, lying in the North Atlantic Ocean. Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat) is noted for its vast tundra and immense glaciers.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Greenland
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Claim 5: “There were 59 copies, compared with the lower copy numbers typically seen in other sharks and related fish species”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or refute the specific number of 59 copies of the FTH1b gene.
verified
Claim 6: “Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) are native to the icy-cold waters around Greenland, Canada, and Iceland”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia confirms the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) inhabits the North Atlantic and is native to the regions mentioned.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jan 19, 2015 · Oracle does not provide any function like "AT SUMMER TIME" for timestamps. Either you use fixed time zones like CET or +01:00 or +02:00 or you use the time zone region, e.g. Europe/Amst…
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28025131/convert-sysdate…
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web search NEUTRAL — Oct 19, 2017 · Another detail is that CET is an ambiguous name, because it's used by more than one timezone. Real timezones names use the ones defined by IANA database (always in the format Region/Cit…
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/46834202/how-to-convert-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Sep 10, 2023 · Your fourth line, SELECT 4, now()::timestamp AT TIME ZONE 'CET' repeats two of the mistakes of your earlier lines: (a) casting a timestamp with time zone into a timestamp without time z…
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/77077167/why-is-now-and-…
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Claim 7: “They grow at a glacial pace of about one centimeter per year”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web sources report the growth rate as approximately or less than one centimeter per year.
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web search NEUTRAL — Scientists estimate the Greenland shark lives at least 250 years. They may live over 500 years.
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/greenland-shark.html
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web search NEUTRAL — Greenland sharks grow at a snail's pace (less than one centimeter per year, to be exact), but they can live for what feels like forever—at least compared to the human lifespan.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/greenland-shark-lifespan-s…
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web search NEUTRAL — To estimate how long an 11-foot Greenland shark might have lived, we can use the information that these sharks grow at a rate of approximately 1 centimeter per year.
https://brainly.com/question/14549455
info
Claim 8: “the researchers also discovered a massive expansion of the FTH1b gene located on pseudochromosome 33”
SINGLE SOURCE
Only one specific web search result mentions the expansion of the FTH1b gene on pseudochromosome 33; no other independent sources provided confirm this specific detail.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Зубы и челюсти гренландской полярной акулы.
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Гренландская_полярная_акула
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web search NEUTRAL — Mapping the genome of the long-lived Greenland shark could offer clues to human disease and aging.A shield against cellular damage. The researchers also discovered a massive expansion of the FTH1b gen…
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-greenland-shark-genome-reveals…
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web search NEUTRAL — To date less than 5% of shark species have nuclear reference genomes, despite next-generation sequencing advances. Particularly for threatened shark species, there is a lack of reliable genomes which …
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12498223/
help
Claim 9: “Another significant discovery was the expansion of gene families linked to immune function, cancer resistance, and DNA repair”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the expansion of gene families linked to immune function, cancer resistance, and DNA repair.
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Claim 10: “Their work is published in a paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”
CORROBORATED
Web search results explicitly state the work was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark and is the largest of the kingdom's three constituent parts by land area, the others being Denmark proper and the Faroe Islands. Citizens…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), also known as the grey shark or gurry shark, is a large shark of the family Somniosidae ("sleeper sharks"), closely related to the Pacific and southern s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Greenlandic Inuit or sometimes simply the Greenlandic are an ethnic group native to Greenland, where they constitute the largest ethnic population. They share a common ancestry, culture, and histo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenlandic_Inuit
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 11: “can live for nearly 400 years, making them the longest-living vertebrates on Earth”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources, including BBC News and other web results, confirm the shark can live for nearly 400 years and is the longest-living vertebrate.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Greenland is located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada and northwest of Iceland. The territory comprises the island of Greenland—the largest island in the worl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Greenland
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark and is the largest of the kingdom's three constituent parts by land area, the others being Denmark proper and the Faroe Islands. Citizens…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), also known as the grey shark or gurry shark, is a large shark of the family Somniosidae ("sleeper sharks"), closely related to the Pacific and southern s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.