A CARNIVOROUS marsupial on the verge of being wiped out by a transmissible cancer could be saved 鈥� by the discovery of animals resistant to the disease.
Since 1996 Tasmanian devils have lost 90 per cent of some populations to the deadly and highly infectious devil facial tumour disease, which is spread by biting. But widespread pockets of Australia鈥檚 island state, such as the north-west and Bronte Park, remain unscathed. Biologists were unsure if this was luck 鈥� perhaps the disease hadn鈥檛 reached the areas yet 鈥� or resilience.
It turns out to be the latter. team at the University of Sydney has found that the immune system of infected and unharmed devils works differently.
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Belov already knew that devils in eastern Tasmania are vulnerable because their immune system mistakes foreign cancer cells for 鈥渟elf鈥� cells. Now her team has analysed the immune system鈥檚 key controller genes for the first time and found that resistant devils have genes that equip them to attack the disease (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, ).
