Researchers hold breath for Tasmanian Devil tumour cure

by Rich Bowden - Apr 1 2008, 07:19

A possible cure has been found for the disfiguring and fatal facial tumour disease which has threatened the existence of the iconic Tasmanian Devil.

Devils are endemic to the Australian island state of Tasmania, where the facial tumour was first noticed during the 1990s. However its discovery was too late to stop the spread of the terrible disease which has killed an estimated 50 percent of the wild Devil population.

Researchers have yet to determine where the outbreak began, and its cause.

Theories that toxins in the environment had been the culprit were dismissed in a recent report commissioned by the Tasmanian Government.

However researchers are pinning their hopes on a new discovery that an apparently immune Devil called Cedric is the new frontline in their battle against the facial tumour disease.

The "exciting" discovery that Cedric has a natural immunity to the disease has galvanised researchers.

"I think this is the most exciting thing that has happened in this program - the devils could be their own saviours," said Greg Woods, leader of the research for the Save the Tasmanian Devil program.

Cedric was captured in western Tasmania along with his half-brother Clinky last year. Both were injected with facial tumour disease,

They haven't developed a tumour so far," said Alex Kriess, a fellow researcher on the project. "We injected very few cells so it might take a while until they develop anything that we can see."

The fact that Cedric has shown immunity is seen as a breakthrough by scientists who have cautioned that unless a treatment is found, Tasmanian Devils will be extinct within twenty years.

 

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