Elephants have impressed us for centuries. They are big, clever, and sociable. But what if someone told you that they may also hold the key to fighting cancer? People have been wondering why elephants do not develop cancer, even though they have life spans that are similar to humans, living for around 50 to 70 years. Now scientists believe they know why. A team at the University of Chicago, Us has found that elephants carry a large number of genes that stop tumors from developing. To be precise, they found 20 copies of an anti-tumor gene called TP 53 in elephants. Most other species, humans included, only carry one copy. According to the research, which was recently published on the online science network BioRxiv, the extra copies of the gene improved the animal's sensitivity to DNA damage. This lets the cells quickly kill themselves when damaged before they can form deadly tumors. "An increased risk of developing cancer has stood in the way of the evolution of large body sizes in many animals," study author Dr Vincent Lynch told The Guardian. If every living cell has the same chance of becoming cancerous, large creatures with long life spans like whales and elephants should have a greater risk of developing cancer than humans and mice do. But across species, the risk of cancer does not show a connection with body mass.  _ was found by Oxford University scientist Richard Peto in the 1970s and later named "Peto's paradox". Evolutionary biologists believe it results from larger animals using protection that many smaller do not, In the elephant's case, the making of TP53 is nature's way of keeping this species alive. The study also found that when the same genes were brought to life in mice, they had the same cancer resistance as elephants. This means researchers could use the discovery to develop new treatments that can help stop cancers from spreading or even developing in the first place. "Nature has already figured out how to prevent cancer," said Joshua Schiffman, an oncologist at the School of Medicine, University of Utah, US. "It's up to us to learn how different animals tackle the problem so we can use those strategies to prevent cancer in people." According to Dr. Vincent Lynch, what has been a risk in the evolution of large animals?
Extreme weather Cells killing themselves Human behavior A risk of deadly tumors