Posted on July 6, 2023 at 4:47 p.m. by Gabriel GADRE
There is a strange paradox in the animal kingdom. The larger they are, the greater the risk of developing cancer. Faced with this danger, the elephants developed an unusual technique thanks to their testicles. Explanations.
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There is a certain paradox in the world of biological research. Just as there is the “French paradox,” there is this one that of crabs and large animals which are more likely to develop cancer cells, but do not develop more than the small ones. We’ll explain it all to you.
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The paradox of the big animals
It was the epidemiologist Richard Peto who first described this strange phenomenon in 1970. In fact, large animals are more at risk develop a tumorSome of their cells are more fragile but have no more cancer than small animals. The example becomes even clearer when you look at the elephants who get cancer less often than humans.
According to Fritz Vollrath, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford, the secret of their cancer protection lies in… their testicles. More specifically, this shield would be linked to a simple protein called p53. The latter helps prevent DNA damage in cells, including that which can lead to cancer.
Multiple copies of a protective gene
More specifically, the elephant actually has many copies of this gene. The same gene that acts as a scanner for all cells in the pachyderm’s body. It then sorts the cells, keeping the good ones and removing the bad ones.
But why have elephants then more specimens than other large animals? The answer lies in the animal’s genitals, which are exposed to high temperatures and whose sperm can become damaged, resulting in heat.
Elephants’ huge, hot testicles could prevent them from developing cancer https://t.co/mOOF1V4NNc
—Live Science (@LiveScience) July 5, 2023
The power of the testicles
This is also why some mammals have their testicles outside their body to help regulate its temperature. But for the elephant, they are indoors which further increases the risk factor for high temperatures.
For Fritz Vollrath, who published his study in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, given these two risk factors (heat of the environment and position of the testicles), evolution would have enabled the elephant to fight it by giving it more genetic skills for preserving his seed.