Elizabeth Murchison is a British-Australian geneticist, Professor of Comparative Oncology and Genetics at the University of Cambridge, UK. The ongoing research of her group focuses on the known existing

clonally transmissible cancer A transmissible cancer is a cancer cell or cluster of cancer cells that can be transferred between individuals without the involvement of an infectious agent, such as an oncovirus. Transmission of cancer between humans is rare. The evolution of tra ...

s arising in mammals. These are cancers that can be passed on between individuals by the transfer of living

cancer cells Cancer cells are cells that divide continually, forming solid tumors or flooding the blood with abnormal cells. Cell division is a normal process used by the body for growth and repair. A parent cell divides to form two daughter cells, and these d ...

that somehow manage to evade the immune system of their hosts. There are two diseases which cause clonally transmissible cancers. One is the

devil facial tumor disease Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is an aggressive non-viral clonally transmissible cancer which affects Tasmanian devils, a marsupial native to Australia. DFTD was first described in 1996. In the subsequent decade the disease ravaged Tasmani ...

(DFTD), which appeared a few decades ago. This disease could make the

Tasmanian devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...

, a marsupial that lives on the Australian island of Tasmania, go

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

. The other disease is the much older

Canine transmissible venereal tumor A canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT), also known as a transmissible venereal tumor (TVT), canine transmissible venereal sarcoma (CTVS), sticker tumor and infectious sarcoma, is a histiocytic tumor of the external genitalia of the dog and ...

(CTVT), also known as Sticker sarcoma, a

venereal Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) ...

tumor affecting dogs, which has spread worldwide. Elizabeth Murchison and her collaborators have been analyzing the genome of these cancer cells. This has enabled them to show that CTVT must have emerged in a female dog more than 10000 years ago. The study of these two long-lived cancers also provides more general insight into the genetic evolution of cancer. Elizabeth Murchison has received several awards for her research, such as the

Philip Leverhulme Prize The Philip Leverhulme Prize is awarded by the Leverhulme Trust to recognise the achievement of outstanding researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future career is exceptionally promising. The prize schem ...

, the Cancer Research UK Future Leaders in Cancer Research Prize, the British Association for Cancer Research-AstraZeneca Young Scientist Frank Rose Award, the Genetics Society Balfour Prize Lecture (2014), and the Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators (2012). Elizabeth Murchison's 2011

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

talk titled "Fighting a contagious cancer" has been viewed more than 500,000 times.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murchison, Elizabeth Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) British women geneticists People from Tasmania University of Melbourne alumni Australian geneticists Australian oncologists Women oncologists British geneticists