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I’m Janine Deakin, an Associated Professor in genetics
and an ARC future fellow within
the Institute of Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra
My research area is in comparative genomics.
This literally means comparing the genomes of one species
to another to gain an understanding of how the genome has changed
over the time. I'm particularly interested
in the genomes of the unique fauna of Australia, such as marsupials like the Tammar
wallaby
and Tasmanian devil and monotremes like the platypus.
I've recently started work on an Australian reptile
the central bearded dragon. My current research topic is on
the iconic Tasmanian devil and the devastating devil facial tumour disease
that is currently threatening
the survival of the devil population. This disease
is unusual in that it is a contagious cancer. It is not spread by a virus
but it appears that the tumour itself is the infectious agent,
being spread by healthy Devils biting into the tumours of
infected Devils. Biting each
other around the face is a social behavior they displayed during mating
and communal feeding. The tunour originated in
an animal over 17 years ago and has outlived its original host
and has since passed through thousands of devils. My research
on this disease has involved comparing the normal devil genome
to that of the tumour to see how the tumour was initially formed
and how it is evolving as it spreads throughout the population.
By determining the location of genes
a normal devil and tumour chromosomes, we found that the devil facial tumour initially
developed
in a female devil. We came to this conclusion
because there was no why Y chromosome genetic material found in the tumour
and most of the X chromosome genes were found in two copies,
as we would expect for females. Our data also provided some insight into how the tumour
was initially formed.
It appears that two chromosomes were shattered
and re-joined in a completely different order. What would have caused this event
is unknown but knowing which regions of the genome are highly rearranged
gives us a starting point for looking for candidate genes involved in
driving this tumour.
We have also observed that since this initial shattering
and re-joining event, the tumour has become relatively stable.
This is quite remarkable given that the tumour has been dividing
for over 17 years. By continuing to observe how the tumour is evolving,
we will be able to determine if the tumour is changing to overcome
any possible resistance it meets within the devil population,
which is a situation we hope is not happening.
Alternatively, the tumour may be evolving to become less virulent
to devils, allowing devils to ultimately survive
and overcome a tumour infection.