By Jonathan Webb Science reporter,
BBC News
30 August 2016
A genetic study of Tasmanian
devils has uncovered signs that the animals are rapidly evolving to defend
themselves against an infectious face cancer.
One of just three known
transmissible cancers, this tumour has wiped out 80% of wild devils in the past
20 years.
Researchers looked at samples
from 294 animals, in three different areas, before and after the disease
arrived.
Two small sections of the devil
genome appear to be changing very fast - and contain likely cancer-fighting
genes.
The team, made up of US, UK and
Australian scientists, described their findings in the
journal Nature Communications.
They say the results offer
much-needed hope that the species, which is unique to Tasmania, could survive
the disease.
Devil facial tumour disease
(DFTD) was discovered in 1996 and kills nearly every devil it infects.
Essentially a single tumour that jumps between hosts, it is transferred when
the aggressive beasts bite each other's snouts.
Only two other infectious cancers
are known to science. A similar tumour is shared between the genitals of dogs
when they mate, and has traversed
the globe since it originated 11,000 years ago; another was
discovered in 2015 affecting clams on
the US west coast.
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