April 24, 2012
The devil's own disease
spreads like a zombie outbreak. More properly known as Devil Facial Tumor Disease, it's a contagous cancer that started from the bite of one infected Tasmanian devil. Let's hope they find a cure, so the devils don't all bomb-out like the Tasmanian Tiger did a century ago...
Oh, and here's a new Aussie movie staring Willem Dafoe, called The Hunter, based on what might happen if just one Tasmanian Tiger was left for corporate pillaging. See, the movie hypothesizes that, for the sake of medical warfare, the bite of the Tiger was poisonous - even as this new devil cancer spreads like a contageious poison <:(!)
-
contagious (insert as needed).
-
Poor buggers. I wonder what changed in their environment to cause this... Mutated virus? Susceptibility due to habitat degradation?
-
Contagious! (Damn straight, a contagious cancer cell line) As I understand it the theory is that the Devil's are starting off with a low base of genetic diversity, which is what lets the grafting take place. It might have been running around in the wild for a long time, but pollution in the environment suppresses their immune system to the point that the graft can take. (That last bit is just speculation, but they are at the top of the local food chain and have been found with a lot of contamination in their body fat according to wiki).
-
Pair recapture Scratchy the missing Tasmanian Devil
-
Noah-like saving of Tasmanian devils trumps movie vertigo.
-
Cute lil' devils, aren't they? More on Devil Facial Tumor Disease and how there may be hope for a vaccine.