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Review
. 2015 Sep;31(9):528-35.
doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2015.05.001. Epub 2015 May 29.

Genomic insights into a contagious cancer in Tasmanian devils

Catherine E Grueber  1 , Emma Peel  2 , Rebecca Gooley  2 , Katherine Belov  3
Affiliations
Review

Genomic insights into a contagious cancer in Tasmanian devils

Catherine E Grueber et al. Trends Genet. 2015 Sep.

Abstract

The Tasmanian devil faces extinction due to a contagious cancer. Genetic and genomic technologies revealed that the disease arose in a Schwann cell of a female devil. Instead of dying with the original host, the tumour was passed from animal to animal, slipping under the radar of the immune system. Studying the genomes of the devil and the cancer has driven our understanding of this unique disease. From characterising immune genes and immune responses to studying tumour evolution, we have begun to uncover how a cancer can be 'caught' and are using genomic data to manage an insurance population of disease-free devils for the long-term survival of the species.

Keywords: DFTD; MHC; Tasmanian devil; cancer; conservation; genomics.

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