(December 1, 2015 at 5:19 pm)vorlon13 Wrote:So pretty much comparable to the AIDS epidemic from the 80's?(December 1, 2015 at 2:37 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: Never knew that. Got any info suitable (in length) for the thread here?
Tasmanian Devils are extremely not diverse genetically. Some years ago, a Tasmanian Devil with a specific oral cancer bit another Tasmanian Devil, and due to their genetic similarity, the bitten Tasmanian Devil's immune system did not attack the biters transferred cancer cells, which unfortunately, 'infected' (colonized?) the second Devil.
Turns out Tasmanian Devils frequently bite each other, and within some years, virtually all of them have the first ones oral cancer running rampant.
It would be like twin brothers, one having cancer and their sharing a toothbrush, and the second one unfortunately winds up incubating the first ones cancer cells.
Kind of a freaky deal, but damn, cancer is just such a wretched fucking disease.
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