Cancer in wild animals
Cancer is a very old disease that arose with multicellularity, but it is also a major scientific and societal issue. Cancer in wildlife has been largely understudied, while it is known that all animals do get cancer. Through the inclusion of a wider variety of organisms in cancer studies, we can learn about the evolution of cancer, ecological factors affecting cancer emergence, cancer defence mechanisms used by wild animals, and links between life-history and cancer.
In addition to comparative studies of cancer in wild animals, we are focusing also on environmental oncogenic factors. Aquatic ecosystems especially are subjected to increasing concentrations and varieties of pollutants many of which can increase cancer risk. We study flatfish, but also other fish species, to determine whether some individuals, populations, or species have evolved mechanisms to reduce cancer risk in polluted habitats.
Publications
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Sepp, T., & Giraudeau, M. 2023. Wild animals as an underused treasure trove for studying the genetics of cancer. BioEssays - Baines et al., 2021. Linking pollution and cancer in aquatic environments: A review. Env. In
- Giraudeau, Sepp et al. 2018. Human activities might influence oncogenic processes in wild animal populations. Nature Ecology and Evolution
- See more here
Collaborators
- WildCAN network
- Thünen Institute, Germany
- Estonian Research Council PSG458,
- See more here