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| Newswatch |
Why don't whales get cancer?
It seems whales don't get cancer - and of course it is a contageous cancer which is wiping out Tasmanian devils.
Using computer simulation techniques, Arizona State University biologists have determined whales may well have "hypertumors" which could attack cancer cells leaving the host free of cancer.
Although I have speculated privately, I must comment publicly that it strikes me as odd that DFTD appeared in Tasmania's north-east; specifically, near the coast.
Could the original DFTD have been ingested by devils feasting on a whale carcass? Might this be a super-tumour, benign to whales but ravaging devils?
Or could DFTD have existed on mainland Australia, finally hopping somehow via an unrelated host through the Furneaux and smaller groups of islands in Bass Strait to Tasmania's north east?
Full article at The Stanford Daily
Posted by: admin on 09 Aug 2007 11:05 PM.
Updated by: admin on 09 Aug 2007 11:05 PM
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