Biting spreads devil tumors

Biting spreads devil tumors

Excerpt:

A lack of genetic diversity in the fierce, fox-like creatures has meant the animals' immune system does not try to fight off the disease, spread through biting, according to a study by the University of Sydney's School of Veterinary Science released last week.

The grotesque facial tumors were first spotted in the devil population around a decade ago in the northeast of Australia's island state of Tasmania, where 90 percent of the species has died of the disease.

The affliction is spreading south and west, and scientists estimate that within five years, there will be no disease-free population in Tasmania -- the only place in the world where the carnivorous marsupials exist outside zoos.

Seeking to understand how a facial cancer could be contagious, the University of Sydney researchers found that the tumors had originated from a single cell line that was spread through the population by biting.


Comment: A graphical illustration from nature!


Galatians 5:14-16

Galatians 5:14-16: "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

Warning: But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!