Article
Transmission of a fatal clonal tumor by biting occurs due to depleted MHC diversity in a threatened carnivorous marsupial.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - 9 Oct 2007
Siddle Hannah V, Kreiss Alexandre, Eldridge Mark D B, Noonan Erin, Clarke Candice J, Pyecroft Stephen, Woods Gregory M, Belov Katherine
Abstract excerpt
A fatal transmissible tumor spread between individuals by biting has emerged in the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), a carnivorous marsupial. Here we provide genetic evidence establishing that the tumor is clonal and therefore foreign to host devils. Thus, the disease is highly unusual because it is not just a tumor but also a tissue graft, passed between individuals without invoking an immune response....
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