Luck of the devil

• Autores: Erica Tennenhouse
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3159, 2018, págs. 38-39
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Two decades ago, at the north-eastern tip of Tasmania, a single cell near the whiskers of a Tasmanian devil mutated and turned cancerous. That animal was bitten in the face by another devil, which was then bitten by another, and the cancer has been spreading ever since. It has taken a once-common species to the brink of extinction. To date, the contagious cancer known as devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) has annihilated 85 per cent of the population. There may be fewer than 20,000 Tasmanian devils left in the wild. Worse still, the species has been hit by another deadly disease. Yet these animals are living up to their feisty reputation. Intriguingly, however, the devils seem to be evolving defences against DFTD. Recently, a comparison of tissue samples from devils that died before the cancer emerged and others living after the disease had taken hold revealed that two distinct stretches of DNA have mutated faster than the rest of their genome.