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https://theconversation.com/some-animals-catch-cancer-from-others-in-their-species-heres-why-humans-arent-one-of-them-288320>
"Scientists in Vermont have just discovered something that shouldn’t really be
possible: a skin cancer that’s spreading from catfish to catfish. It’s only the
fourth transmissible cancer ever found in nature.
Catfish now join Tasmanian devils, dogs and shellfish as the only animals known
to carry naturally occurring cancers that can pass between individuals. In each
case, cancer cells break free from one body, travel to another and carry on
living and dividing as cancer cells in their new host. No virus, bacteria or
parasite is involved – it’s the cancer cells themselves doing the spreading,
which is what makes them so unusual.
Tasmanian devils bite each other’s faces when mating or fighting, letting
tumour cells pass directly from one animal’s wounds into another’s. Something
similar happens in dogs, where canine transmissible venereal tumour cells
spread between mating partners via damage to their genitals.
Shellfish do it differently again, passing cancer cells to one another through
the water they live in. When a shellfish with cancer dies, it releases huge
numbers of cancerous blood cells into the water. Other shellfish filter that
water as they feed, and can pick up the cancer cells in the process.
Exactly how the disease is spreading between catfish is still being worked out.
The scientists behind the study have suggested it could be linked to mating
behaviour, as in dogs and Tasmanian devils, or to catfish picking up cancer
cells from the water, as happens in shellfish."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
