The Tasmanian devil is the largest carnivorous marsupial, a mammal that has its babies in its pouch like the kangaroo. They are usually found in Australia.
The researchers took genomes from the Tasmanian devils that were suffering from cancer. They discovered that cancer was spreading among animals by bites.
They found the cancer cells had aroused from the cells of a single female Tasmanian devil that had died more than 15 years ago. Her DNA is living on in the contagious cancer cell line that she spawned.
The cancer causes the appearance of tumours on the face of the affected Tasmanian devils which grow rapidly and cause death within months.
According to the researchers, the spread of cancer between individuals is normally prevented by the immune system but the devil cancer may outwit the immune system. However, future studies will be required to explain how cancer escapes the immune destruction.
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