Contagious cancers have been spreading in shellfish for centuries

health

by Adriana Diaz

Scientists have discovered that cancer has been prevalent among shellfish for centuries. This is a revolutionary discovery that could change the way cancer is treated.

According to a recently published study, Peer-reviewed journal “Nature”the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the UK, and the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, in collaboration with experts from several other countries, are using DNA sequencing to ensure that ancient investigated how an ancient cancer quietly spreads among cockles.

Cockles are a type of edible sea shellfish that belong to one of the oldest animal groups on Earth.

Contagious cockle cancer is known as bivalve transmissible tumor (BTN). The disease spreads from monkey to monkey through seawater. The seawater passes through the living cancer cells, grows and replicates within the host like leukemia, and then escapes and attacks other monkeys.

This mode of transmission has been found among the following species: tasmanian devil (Cancer cells become contagious when they mesh with each other) dog (spreads cancer cells by mating) and very rarely in humans (there are a small number of cancer cases) passed on to the child during pregnancy reported).

The team collected around 7,000 cockles from 36 locations in 11 countries, including Spain, Portugal, the UK, Ireland and Morocco, and were able to discover two different types of BTN.

“We have identified two independent, contagious cancers, but we suspect there are many more different types.” Co-lead author Dr. Alicia Bruzos said in a statement:.

“A broader view of different types of transmissible cancers will provide more insight into the conditions that tumors require to evolve and survive long-term.”

The research team found that these cockle tumors are genetically highly unstable and contain different numbers of chromosomes, which is unusual for cancer.

“Our study showed that the cells of these monkey tumors contain highly variable amounts of genetic material. “It’s very rare compared to other types of cancer.”

“These cancers have probably experienced extreme chromosomal changes and continuous genetic rearrangements over hundreds or even thousands of years, and require stable genomes for long-term survival. This casts doubt on the theory that

This finding suggests that these cancers are different from other transmissible cancers in animals because they do not require a stable genome to survive.

Discovering how these cancer cells tolerate this instability could help experts find new ways to approach human cancer treatment.

The researchers also identified a large number of monkeys that were unexpectedly co-infected with cells from both types of cancer at the same time.

“Further understanding of the origin and evolution of cockle-transmissible cancer, and how its cells interact with cockle cells and the marine environment, could help protect animal populations in the future. At the same time, it may provide insight into how cancer can survive for thousands of years as a marine parasite,” explained co-author Dr. Adrian Báez-Ortega.