In some species, cancer cells can be directly transmitted between individuals, particularly in marine bivalves such as clams, cockles or mussels. The tendency for many bivalve species to develop leukaemia-like cancers has been known since the 1960s, but the underlying transmission of cancer was not understood till recently.
In this seminar, we will review the state of the art of bivalve transmissible cancers and present a paper currently under review about genetic analyses performed in an unknown cancer found in warty venus clam. We will discuss too why transmissible cancers represent a potential threat to the ecology of the marine environment and their identification and genetic characterization is key to prevent humans activities unwittingly spreading the disease to new seas ending up affecting more species.

This seminar will be held on June 30, at 13:30, online via Zoom platform.
Participation is free, but mandatory to register. REGISTER HERE!

About our speaker: 
Alicia L. Bruzos is a doctoral candidate at the The Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CiMUS) in Santiago de Compostela.

This seminar was kindly sponsored by

You can see the complete seminar here: