In March the Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal announced the winners in its latest round of grants and scholarships that will contribute towards research designed to combat the fatal facial tumour disease that has ravaged the species in the wild since the mid-1990s. More than $375,000 has been awarded this […]
Devil vaccine a step closer
The results of an international study published recently in Scientific Reports has confirmed the fatal facial tumour disease that has decimated populations of Tasmanian devils in the wild for over 20 years, can be cured using immunotherapy. Led by the University of Tasmania’s Menzies Institute for Medical Research, the study […]
Reduced effect of Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease at the disease front
Pathogen-driven declines in animal populations are increasingly regarded as a major conservation issue. The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is threatened with extinction by devil facial tumor disease, a unique transmissible cancer. The disease is transmitted through direct transfer of tumor cells, which is possible because the genetic diversity of Tasmanian devils […]
OJD on the rise in Tasmania
Spring is the time of year when many rural properties and paddocks in Tasmania are filled with the sight of newborn and frolicking lambs bleating for their mothers among expanding flocks, but in the aftermath of two wet winters Bruce Jackson, senior vet at the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, […]
Allorecognition in the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), an endangered marsupial species with limited genetic diversity
Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) are on the verge of extinction due to a transmissible cancer, devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). This tumour is an allograft that is transmitted between individuals without immune recognition of the tumour cells. The mechanism to explain this lack of immune recognition and acceptance is not […]