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SYSK Choice: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World & Amazing Extreme Animals

Something You Should Know

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The African Bush Elephant - The Biggest Animal Ever

The African bush elephant is the largest animal to live on our planet since the dinosaurs when extinct, 65 million years ago. It has many copies of a gene called p 53 which is known as a cancer suppressor in humans. But in elephants, it fights cancer in a different way and induces cells that have mutated in bad ways to kill themselves. Researchers are now trying to insert this synthetic gen into human cancer cells and cause them to die. So the elephant may be pointing us in the direction of how to stop not just one form of cancer, but all forms of cancer.

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