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The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is Earth’s largest known animal, surpassing even the biggest dinosaurs in length and mass. To sustain their size, they filter up to six tons of krill daily. Once decimated by commercial whaling, blue whale populations are slowly recovering but remain threatened by climate change, prey decline, ship strikes, and entanglement in fishing gear. These giants are also exceptionally long-lived, reaching an average lifespan of 80 to 90 years.

The Vertebrate Genomes Project, in collaboration with G10K, recently produced the first chromosome-level reference genome for this giant marine mammal (Bukhman et al., 2024). Decoding the blue whale genome could provide powerful insights into the genetic mechanisms behind their remarkable resistance to cancer. Despite having trillions of cells and undergoing decades of cell division, blue whales rarely develop tumors. Understanding how their genomes maintain stability and suppress cancer could also reveal important clues about aging. Since many aging-related genes are located in difficult-to-sequence regions such as chromosome telomeres, producing near-complete genomes like this one is critical to uncovering these biological secrets.