populations in the affected areas have decreased by about 80 percent. In an effort to save the endangered species they are trying to determine the genome and help identify cancer-causing genes and find drugs to help control the disease.
Friday, April 13, 2012
'Immortal' Tasmanian Devil Brings Vaccine Hope
The Tasmanian Devil population has been being threatened by a facial cancer which now from new scan of the cancer reveals it probably evolved from a single female around 16 years ago. The scan also allowed to help identify gene mutations in the cancer, but not healthy tissue which can provide targets for vaccines. The disease is unusual because the cancer cells are actually acting as the infectious agents and are being spread when animals bite during fights and mating. The potential for a vaccine could help devils who are not affected yet become immune to the bite if they were to be bitten. The researchers analyzed DNA from 104 tumors in 69 devils which all traced back to the one female. Tasmanian Devil
populations in the affected areas have decreased by about 80 percent. In an effort to save the endangered species they are trying to determine the genome and help identify cancer-causing genes and find drugs to help control the disease.
populations in the affected areas have decreased by about 80 percent. In an effort to save the endangered species they are trying to determine the genome and help identify cancer-causing genes and find drugs to help control the disease.
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I suppose I should know this, but I never realized there was facial cancer. If humans don't have it yet, which I don't know if that's right or not, suppose one of these tasmanian devils that are being researched on bites one of the researchers? Since its bite contains the infectious cancer agents, would the researcher now be infected, and then an entire new disease would spread through the human race! On the other hand, if we already do have it, then if and when they finish sequencing the genome, hopefully it'll be possible to use the same drug to assist in human cancer research.
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