Clams with this cancer show an over growth of abnormally shaped hemocytes, which convert clear circulatory fluid (healthy) to a milky white color (not healthy). infected species die within weeks or months; neoplasia is one of several factors that can wipe out entire beds of clams.
Last year, Goff and his colleagues identified a retrotransposon, called Steamer, which correlated with the disease. Normal Hemocytes contain 2-10 copies of this sequence, but cancerous carried 150-300 copies.
Goff suggested that environmental contaminants or infectious agents may trigger the cancer. Boettger added that further work is needed to confirm whether these cancer cells are truly transmissible among clams. Because clams remain sessile throughout their adult lives, suggesting that the cancer has an unusual way of transmitting.
I found this article to be very interesting, but it left me with more questions than answers. For instance, would we be able to obtain this form of cancer if we eat a cancerous clam? Have other animals been infected? It stayed vague is many sections with no clear answer
I found this article to be very interesting, but it left me with more questions than answers. For instance, would we be able to obtain this form of cancer if we eat a cancerous clam? Have other animals been infected? It stayed vague is many sections with no clear answer
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