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BioEssays 4/2012
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.201290013
Subject(s) - biology , disease , wildlife disease , cancer , immune system , evolutionary biology , genome , threatened species , genetics , zoology , virology , immunology , gene , medicine , pathology , ecology , wildlife , habitat
The Tasmanian devil is threatened by the incidence of a transmissible cancer (devil facial tumour disease, DFTD). On pages 285–292 Katherine Belov compares and contrasts this disease with canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT), focusing on the life histories of the clonal cell lines, their evolutionary trajectories and the mechanisms by which they have achieved immune tolerance. These two diseases provide unique models for understanding cancer biology and immunobiology, particularly the evolution of immune evasion strategies. Recently, whole‐genome sequences of the Tasmanian devil, and of two distinct cancer subclones, have been published; these data provide further information about the pattern of evolution and spread of this parasitic clonal disease. Cover photo © melanieplusdaniel.de ‐ Fotolia.com