Scientists Discover Origin of a Cancer in Tasmanian Devils

Source: NYT

The Tasmanian devil, the spaniel-size marsupial found on the Australian island of Tasmania, has been hurtling toward extinction in recent years, the victim of a bizarre and mysterious facial cancer that spreads like a plague.

Now Australian scientists say they have discovered how the cancer originated. The finding, being reported Friday in the journal Science, sheds light on how cancer cells can sometimes liberate themselves from the hosts where they first emerged. On a more practical level, it also opens the door to devising vaccines that could save the Tasmanian devils.

“It’s a great paper,” said Katherine Belov, a geneticist at the University of Sydney who was not involved in the study. “Previously, we were stumbling in the dark.”

The cancer, devil’s facial tumor disease, is transmitted when the animals bite one another’s faces during fights. It grows rapidly, choking off the animal’s mouth and spreading to other organs. The disease has wiped out 60 percent of all Tasmanian devils since it was first observed in 1996, and some ecologists predict that it could obliterate the entire wild population within 35 years.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/01/science/01devil.html

little buggers.

King Charles?

Springer?

Cocker?

Sheeeeeeeesh, ya'd think an editor at the NYT would know better than to let a garbage comparison like that in the article leader.

A Cavalier King Charles spaniel is about 12-13 in. tall at the shoulders and weighs 13-18 lbs.

An English Springer Spaniel is about 19-20 in. tall at the shoulders and weighs 40-50 lbs.

A Cocker is somewhere in between.

So, how am I supposed to be visualizing these critters with regard to size?

feh.

curmudgeonly,
Bright

We have a Springer and no way are these Devils as large as that.

Quarrelsome little critters, they make impressive set of noises- like nothing you've ever heard. Or maybe want to hear when out camping in the bush...



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thanks for pics, i had no idea what they looked like until now.

and the fact that they can get quite cranky with one another, especially during a feed. This is how the disease is transmitted- they snarl snap and bite while fighting for their share of the carcass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRyFQNmb1Q4

Habituated ones in game parks, breeding facilities and farmstays involved with animal rescue become reasonably tame and depending on the owners, you may be able to hold and pet one if you ever come for a visit down under.

is more connected to infection in various ways than the current model allows.

Sugar intake. Cancer loves sugar. And, you know, cancer cells are immortal. You know why? Because the mitochondria, which contain the instructions for cell death, are turned off in cancer cells. Guess what their other job is? Making ATP, the cellular energy currency. But cancer cells don't need the mitochondria, because if they have enough sugar, they can make their own ATP through the process of glycolysis.

You bet our current cancer paradigm is faulty. That's an understatement.