#comparative-oncology

#comparative-oncology

In cancer biology, there's a conundrum known as Peto's paradox: Large animals have lots of cells, which in theory should mean more chances to develop cancer. And long-lived organisms have more time to acquire the mutations needed to transform healthy cells into cancerous ones. And yet "that's not what happens," says Vera Gorbunova, a biologist at the University of Rochester. "It suggests that these large and longer-lived animals have additional protections from cancer that they evolved."