479: Uncomplicated Critters Conquer Cancer

This episode: Simple microscopic animals can survive extreme
radiation by ejecting damaged cells that might otherwise become
cancer!


Download Episode (7.3 MB, 9.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Helleborus net necrosis virus


News item


Takeaways





Any multicellular organism with different types of cells
needs some sort of cell regulation, to keep each cell type
doing what it’s supposed to do for the good of the organism
as a whole. We know what happens when this regulation fails
and one type of cells starts multiplying out of control:
cancer.

However, cancer has never yet been observed in certain
organisms, including the simple microscopic animal
Trichoplax adhaerens. In this study, these animals are
exposed to large amounts of radiation and then observed
over years to see if they can develop cancer or have
interesting mechanisms of resisting it.


 
Journal Paper:
Fortunato A, Fleming A, Aktipis A, Maley CC. 2021.
Upregulation of DNA repair genes and cell extrusion underpin
the remarkable radiation resistance of Trichoplax adhaerens.
PLOS Biol 19:e3001471.

 


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dot com. Thanks for listening!


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