Bowhead whales live 200+ years by fixing DNA better, not preventing damage better

Elephants evolved extra copies of the p53 gene to kill damaged cells. Bowhead whales went a different direction: they express a single protein (CIRBP) at 100-fold higher levels, which turbocharges both major DNA repair pathways.

Here's the paradox: bowhead whale cells are actually easier to turn cancerous than human cells. They don't survive by resisting cancer — they survive by preventing mutations in the first place.