I found it weird how they didn't mention that the other transmissible cancer was.
They are probably referring to golden hamsters, but according to Wikipedia there are three animals that have transmissible tumors like this so 2/4 for the devils.
It's amazing to me how much effort is being put into saving these animals. There's no (immediate) benefit to us. They aren't raised for meat, fur or other products. They aren't working animals. They aren't pets.
Sure, it's possible that this research may one day assist humans with cancer, but that is a speculation and not known in advance - it could be useless for that cause.
People are just doing it because they care.
It's also wild to me that cancer can be spread at all. They mentioned biting, but is there any other way they can transfer it between individuals? I can't imagine it's airborne or waterborne.
What is absolutely insane about this disease is the Tasmanian devils that have this do NOT have cancer in the way you'd think about. They have an invasive parasite.
So, my understanding (layman who reads about these things), is that, long ago, one particular Tasmanian devil got cancer. This devil bit another and transferred some cells, which grew on the recipient. Note that these cells belong to the original donor. ALL of these cells, on all of the affected devils, genetically belong to the donor. It's literally a separate parasitic life form that reproduces parthenogenetically. Like "Henrietta Lacks", the cells are still alive, long after the original being is gone.
So, none of the recipients cells has cancer. They have someone else's cancer living on them!
I wonder if it would be possible to artificially introduce genetic diversity in the species, so any individual transmissible cancer would seem more alien (and more immunogenic) to most of the population.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 37.5 ms ] threadhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonally_transmissible_cancer
https://www.tcg.vet.cam.ac.uk/about
Sure, it's possible that this research may one day assist humans with cancer, but that is a speculation and not known in advance - it could be useless for that cause.
People are just doing it because they care.
It's also wild to me that cancer can be spread at all. They mentioned biting, but is there any other way they can transfer it between individuals? I can't imagine it's airborne or waterborne.
So, my understanding (layman who reads about these things), is that, long ago, one particular Tasmanian devil got cancer. This devil bit another and transferred some cells, which grew on the recipient. Note that these cells belong to the original donor. ALL of these cells, on all of the affected devils, genetically belong to the donor. It's literally a separate parasitic life form that reproduces parthenogenetically. Like "Henrietta Lacks", the cells are still alive, long after the original being is gone.
So, none of the recipients cells has cancer. They have someone else's cancer living on them!