Tasmanian devils often display aggression toward each other, which typically ends with one biting the other on the face. This act of hostility is helping spread devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), one of only three known forms of transmissible cancer.
First detected 20 years ago, DFTD is fatal nearly 100 percent of the time and has wiped out an estimated 80 percent of devils in Tasmania. In a study published Tuesday in the scientific journal Nature Communications, a team of scientists report that while looking at Tasmanian devil DNA, they discovered that two regions in their genomes are changing in response to the spread of the cancer. "Our study suggests hope for the survival of the Tasmanian devil in the face of this devastating disease," Andrew Storfer, a professor of biology at Washington State University and an author of the study, said in a statement.
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