This study, focusing on fish, is the first comparative study of cancer genes outside the mammalian class. Studying the evolution of oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes in a wider range of species could provide novel advances in our understanding of natural cancer defence mechanisms, and the role of cancer in life history evolution. It could also help to predict which natural species are more vulnerable to environmental change due to lower evolved cancer defence mechanisms.
Ciara is a PhD Student at the Chair of Animal Ecology, Department of Zoology, University of Tartu