Science Stats Health & Medicine

Elephants’ cancer-protection secret may be in the genes

The pachyderms’ low disease rates linked to high dose of tumor blockers

a herd of elephants

LONG LIVING Elephants’ long life spans may stem from an abundance of cancer-fighting genes.

Vaughan Leiberum/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

By Meghan Rosen

- More than 2 years ago

Elephants’ genetic instruction books include a hefty chapter on fighting cancer.

The massive mammals have about 20 copies of TP53, a gene that codes for a potent tumor-blocking protein, researchers analyzing elephant DNA report October 8 in JAMA.