{
  "abstract": "Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) are exceptionally long-lived. We sequenced the genome and methylome of Jonathan, a 194-year-old Aldabra, to explore the molecular basis of his longevity. Relative to other giant tortoises (A. gigantea and Chelonoidis abingdonii), Jonathan has unique gene variants in most aging pathways. Moreover, Jonathan has substantial DNA methylation and methylation entropy changes compared to four other Aldabras ranging in age from a 5-year-old juvenile to older adults. Notably, we found that lower-entropy regions in Jonathan's methylome were enriched for the promoters of genes involved in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, and RNA metabolism. This suggests that high-fidelity transcription of the genes in these pathways may be crucial for long-lived species. Our findings support a model for aging wherein the maintenance of low methylation entropy in gene promoters is coupled to efficient mitochondrial energy production, efficient RNA processing, and efficient genomic repair.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Kallel Foundation, Nashville, TN, USA.",
    "Igenbio, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA.",
    "VANTAGE, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.",
    "Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.",
    "Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA.",
    "Agriculture and Natural Resources Division, St. Helena Government, Jamestown, St. Helena.",
    "Florida Iguana & Tortoise Breeders, Southwest Ranches, FL, USA.",
    "Department of Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.",
    "Systems Biology Department, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.",
    "Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.",
    "New Mexico Consortium, Los Alamos, NM, USA.",
    "Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA.",
    "NNF Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.",
    "SeaWorld of Texas, San Antonio, TX, USA.",
    "United Parks and Resorts, Orlando, FL, USA.",
    "The University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.",
    "Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.",
    "Tennessee Oncology, Nashville, TN, USA.",
    "Epiphany Biosciences, San Francisco, CA, USA.",
    "Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN, USA."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 22,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Benjamin Vaisvil",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1688-0295"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Daniel P. Schmitt",
      "orcid": "0009-0002-6057-5669"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Angela Jones",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1565-4360"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Vinayak Kapatral"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "James M. Ford"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Madison L. Taylor"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Mathia Colwell",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5008-8520"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Jonathan Hollins",
      "orcid": "0009-0005-8290-0903"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Sam Pascucci"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Konstantin Weissenow",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2205-1795"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Burkhard Rost",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0179-8424"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Pascal Notin",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1877-8983"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Justin Gerlach",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0157-0449"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Thomas C. Terwilliger",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6384-0320"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Li-Wei Hung",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6690-8458"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12
      ],
      "name": "Lars Juhl Jensen",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7885-715X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        13
      ],
      "name": "Kathlyn Reed"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        14
      ],
      "name": "Todd R. Robeck",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8573-5070"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        15
      ],
      "name": "Steve Horvath",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4110-3589"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        16
      ],
      "name": "Christopher Faulk",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9749-9658"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        17
      ],
      "name": "Yanjun Ma",
      "orcid": "0009-0008-0494-4398"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        18,
        19
      ],
      "name": "Stephen W. Clark",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1732-1065"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/aeq2xvhdfys32.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1126/sciadv.adw8887",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13644754",
  "id": "aeq2xvhdfys32",
  "issns": [
    "2375-2548"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adw8887",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1302|Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7172216198",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13644754?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13644754",
  "pmid": "42842650",
  "published": "2026-10-07",
  "publisher": "American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/aeq2xvhdfys32.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:41Z",
      "native_id": "10.1126/sciadv.adw8887",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adw8887"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:02Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42842650",
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      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42842650"
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  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1302|Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms",
      "subfield": "cell-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Epigenetic insights into extreme longevity in the world’s oldest terrestrial animal, Jonathan",
  "title_text": "Epigenetic insights into extreme longevity in the world’s oldest terrestrial animal, Jonathan",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:02Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/aeq2xvhdfys32",
  "venue": "Science Advances",
  "versions": []
}