Elephants May Hold Key To Cancer Prevention

Scientists think there may be something in an elephant’s genes that could destroy damaged cells before they become cancerous. Elephants have 100 times more cells than humans, meaning they should be 100 times more likely to have one slip into a cancerous state, but they rarely get cancer. The elephant mortality rate from the disease is less than 5 per cent compared to 25 per cent for humans. What this means, say the scientists, is that nature has already figured out how to prevent cancer; that it’s up to science to adapt the strategies used to prevent the disease in animals to humans.