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By Greta Noble
25,000 blue whales swim throughout the oceans every day. 300 million humans walk through the streets of the United States every day. 1.8 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year. None of the blue whales swimming through the oceans have this chronic illness.
While it would seem that the increase in cell count of large animals would correlate to an increase in the quantity of cancer cells, it turns out that blue whales do not get cancer. This puzzle is known as Peto’s Paradox. As scientists conduct more research, they believe that large, long-lived animals seem to have evolved mechanisms that are 1000 times more capable of suppressing cancer than humans. Through genomics and comparative methods, scientists are working to understand and utilize these suppressors for treatment in human cancer therapy. For example, genomic analyses revealed that the African elephant genome contains 20 copies of the most common suppressor gene TP53. The human genome contains one TP53 copy. Through this research, scientists have also encountered another theory: hyper tumors. While we are at the very beginning of research to confirm their existence, it is thought that hyper tumors reside directly upon malignant tumors, rerouting their blood supply, and eventually killing the tumors.
Throughout the history of medicine, methods for treating disease have been discovered by looking at how animals in nature have evolved and responded to problems that humans have not yet overcome. Complex research such as this requires an innovative and creative approach that looks at all aspects of the puzzle in a collaborative way. In the absence of this, such research can become stagnant.