News: Worlds Oldest Clam!

[bgill]

Importance of deep sea investigation

Oct 29 2007 by Mark Brittain, Daily Post - U.K.


IT is undoubtedly a shame that the oldest-living animal ever discovered probably died as a result of being dredged-up from its Atlantic seabed home.

Had the Quahog (a type of clam) not been unceremoniously hoisted to the surface and loaded aboard Bangor University’s Ocean Sciences craft, it would certainly have broken its own distinguished record and might have continued living, who knows how long?
Hopefully, however, there are more where that one came from (near Iceland).

Meanwhile, not for the first time, Bangor University is helping put the city’s name on the international map. And now the team which discovered Ming – the nickname given to the clam, not because of any resemblance or similarity to Sir Menzies Campbell but because it has been living since the Chinese Ming dynasty – has been given a £40,000 grant by Help the Aged to see if studying Ming and others like it can yield any information of value to aid research into the process of human ageing. Which means Bangor could become a centre of excellence in one subject which is greatly concerning the whole world.

Ming "the clam" was 405 when it was fished out of the ocean where it had been living and growing peacefully since the days of Shakespeare.
One day presumably being much like another in those cold murky depths, it could not have expected to be disturbed for another few centuries except perhaps for submarine and cable-laying activity, sinkings and volcanic upheavals.

If Ming does provide clues as to how humans can live to extreme old age (which is clearly not the primary intention) it could make Bangor famous. It could also be the last things human beings need.
It does prove the wisdom, though, of the call just last week by Members of the Commons Science and Technology select committee for more UK funding in marine science.
Despite the sea covering 70% of the Earth’s surface, more than 95% remains unexplored and only an estimated 5% of species have been discovered.

The UK could be at the forefront of this study which may reveal unimagined benefits for industry, medicine and our understanding of climate change.

And Bangor already has a head-start on the world. We can be justifiably proud of the university’s achievements – even if on this occasion they did unintentionally kill off the world’s oldest animal.

[Pastor]

Hey, that's my university

And our local rag

[Pastor]

According to the local news just now, this has been mentioned in Time magazine as one of the top 100 discoveries of all time