It's a creature that no one would call beautiful, majestic, or awe-inspiring.  But scientists at the University of Rochester took a closer look, and found something amazing.

The naked mole rat, which is native to East Africa, is a hairless rodent that is unique in a lot of ways.  Researchers focuses on the fact that no cancerous tumors have ever been found in naked mole rats.  In fact, it's the only known cancerless animal.

Researchers at the U of R found that a gene makes cells "claustrophobic," meaning that they resist forming tumors, even if scientists try to mutate the cells.

The gene is called p16.  Many animals, including humans, have a gene called p27 that has similar effects, but it appears the naked mole rat has both, in effect giving it two lines of defense.

The findings were presented in the most recent issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.