| Newswatch |
 Cedric's Immune! Now the Special Six... Scientists have demonstrated that Cedric the Tasmanian devil is immune to devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). Cedric, and his half-brother Clinky, were both injected with live tumour cells following an experimental vaccination. Clinky has begun forming tumours, but Cedric has proved resistant to the disease. Scientists believe the reason for the success is not so much the vaccine, but that Cedric's genetic makeup is sufficiently dissimilar to the disease such that he develops his own immune response to infection. The hunt is now on to locate additional devils which may display this natural resistance. Six devils have been collected from the wild which have a similar genetic makeup to Cedric. These "Special Six" will be injected with live tumours - without and vaccination treatment - to see whether they survive the disease. It is hoped they will; in which case a breeding program will commence in earnest starting with this stock. Full article at ABC Full article at nwes.com.au Photo of Cedric - the Tasmanian devil immune to devil facial tumour disease (Sarcophilus harrisii) by University of Tasmania from the source article at news.com.au.
Posted by: admin on 01 Jun 2008 08:15 PM.
Updated by: admin on 01 Jun 2008 09:46 PM
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