To start, Robert tries to touch--literally touch--the tumor that killed President Ulysses S. Grant. But will its keepers (Dr. Adrianne Noe and Brian Spatola) let him?
Next, writer David Quammen explains an unsettling discovery in Tasmania. When wildlife photographer Christo Baars noticed strange lumps on the Tasmanian Devils he was photographing, scientists jumped in to figure out what was going on. Dr. Anne-Marie Pearse found a shocking answer--the lumps were infectious tumors, and they were leaping between Devils.
How could this happen? Jad and Robert talk to cancer biologist Carlo Maley about the improbable sequence of events that allowed the tumors to take flight.
Comments [6]
Jung, I believe he was talking about ANOTHER tumor. It's subtle, but he differentiates it from the marsupial tumor.
This may sound picky, but I heard one of the guest said "a transmissible tumor in dogs. canine transmissible venereal tumor", which I think is not valid way to explain something happening to Tasmanian devils, the marsupials. "Canine" should refer to something related with members of Canidae, the mammals. Between these two groups lies at least 160 million years of divergence.
Here's a new TED talk from a researcher studying this cancer in Tasmanian devils:
http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_murchison.html
I saw this report on Sky News and I thought, "Wait a second, I heard about this on Radiolab!". Below is the link to the article and video.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Australia-Fight-To-Save-Tasmanian-Devil-Which-Is-Threatened-With-Extinction/Article/201101115876131?lid=ARTICLE_15876131_Australia:FightToSaveTasmanianDevilWhichIsThreatenedWithExtinction&lpos=searchresults
After hearing about the bizarre plight of the Tasmanian devils, I did more of my own research, and proceeded to create an illustration depicting the horror of the disease, as well as chiding Warner Bros. for not doing more to help save the species of one of its most beloved characters.
Take a look at http://www.elvikis.com/blog/?p=106
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