Cancer normally lives and dies with the person whom it
consumes, right? Well at least normally it does; however, this is not the case
with a sexually transmitted cancer in dogs. Yes, dogs can get cancer in the
form of an STD. This particular type of sexually transmitted cancer has
continued living within the dog population for the past 11,000 years.
Scientists have finally sequenced the genome of the world’s oldest continuously
surviving caner. This cancer causes awful genital tumors and has been a
reoccurring form since 11,000 years ago and has had over two million mutations.
Compared to human forms of cancer which have a mere 1,000 to 5,000 mutations,
this is insane. Why is this important? Sequencing this genome has proved that
given the right conditions, cancer can live for at least 10,000 years even
though it has countless mutations involved. The string of cancer can be linked
all the way back to the original dog that was said to have it. Although they
now have an idea that the original dog was an Alaskan Malamute, they do not
know how it originally came to be. Having this information will help us
understand how to handle the rare, but occasional cases of transmissible cancer
in humans.
This article was very well constructed and had a lot of
information that helped the article flow smoothly. There seemed to be a good
balance of facts that were backed up with evidence and quotes. I would say that
this article was very well written and formed to appropriately give the
information.
Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140123141742.htm
Image: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140123141742.htm
Wow! This article was really interesting. I had no idea that this could even be possible. It is amazing that this form of cancer has survived for over 11,000 years. It is also really interesting that they are able to trace it back to the original dog that is said to have had it 11,000 years ago, that is quite impressive to be able to trace a type of cancer back 11,000 years. The fact that dogs can get cancer in the form of an STD is really interesting and frankly kind of scary. The fact that it can be transmitted quickly and easily is very freighting, and it’s not just an STD but also it is a form of cancer. I agree with you on the fact that we need to understand how to better handle occasional cases of transmissible cancer in humans. This article was very informative but also a bit startling to read about.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, that is really sad. I hate when things happen to dogs. I had no idea there was a "dog STD." Like Cristian said, its amazing that a form of cancer has been able to survive for 11,000 years. Really cool to see that they traced it back to certain breed, but would be even more impressive to see how the cancer originated. Maybe if they find how it came to be, it could help in a cure for it. Are they working towards a cure now? This article was well written, but a scary read. I had no idea.
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