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Updated: May 4, 2026

Functional Characterization of Regulatory Macrophages That Inhibit Graft-reactive Immunity
Published on: June 7, 2017
Allograft theory: transmission of devil facial-tumour disease
1Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment. PO Box 46, Kings Meadows, Tasmania 7249, Australia. anne-maree.pearse@dpiwe.tas.gov.au
Abstract:
The Tasmanian devil, a large carnivorous Australian marsupial, is under threat from a widespread fatal disease in which a malignant oral-facial tumour obstructs the animal's ability to feed. Here we show that the chromosomes in these tumours have undergone a complex rearrangement that is identical for every animal studied. In light of this remarkable finding and of the known fighting behaviour of the devils, we propose that the disease is transmitted by allograft, whereby an infectious cell line is passed directly between the animals through bites they inflict on one another.
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