1. Contagious cancer found in clams.
- Author
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HESMAN SAEY, TINA
- Subjects
- *
TRANSMISSIBLE tumors , *MYA arenaria , *RETROTRANSPOSONS , *VIRUS research , *RETROVIRUS diseases , *DISEASES - Abstract
The article discusses reports on a leukemia-like disease in soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria) that spreads from clam to clam, which was first noticed in the 1970s when clams in the Chesapeake Bay, shared by Maryland and Virginia, and in Maine started dying in large numbers. Research by virologist Stephen Goff and colleagues that found the clams were not infected with a retrovirus, but carried the Steamer retrotransposon, or mobile genetic element, is discussed.
- Published
- 2015
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