Colossal Foundation and the University of Tasmania Partner to Fight Devil Facial Tumour Disease

The Colossal Foundation and the University of Tasmania have announced a partnership to fight devil facial tumour disease, the contagious cancer that has cut the wild Tasmanian devil population by roughly 80 percent. The effort pairs a field-ready oral vaccine with marsupial science — and it leans on an unlikely stand-in, the mouse-sized fat-tailed dunnart, to test treatments safely before they ever reach an endangered devil.

What is devil facial tumour disease?

Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a contagious cancer that has devastated the Tasmanian devil, the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial, since it was first identified in 1996. A second strain emerged in 2014. Both are nearly always fatal, and together they have driven the wild devil population down by roughly 80 percent.

What makes the disease so hard to stop is how it spreads: through biting, a behavior so central to how devils eat and mate that the cancer has been nearly impossible to contain by conventional means.

How the Colossal Foundation–University of Tasmania partnership will fight it

The Colossal Foundation, the nonprofit arm of de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences, is attacking DFTD on two fronts. University of Tasmania immunologist Andrew Flies has spent years developing a field-ready oral vaccine designed to teach the devil immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells before they take hold.

Alongside the vaccine, researchers will explore whether de-extinction technologies could reverse a gene called LZTR1 — tied to two unusual mutations found only in devils — to test whether that change could make the species naturally more resistant to the cancer in the first place.

“Devil facial tumour disease is one of the most devastating wildlife diseases on Earth. This contagious cancer is pushing an iconic marsupial toward collapse, with consequences for the ecology of an entire island. Andy Flies and his team at the University of Tasmania have built the most advanced DFTD vaccine pipeline in existence.”

— Matt James, Executive Director, Colossal Foundation

James added that by pairing that vaccine pipeline with Colossal’s marsupial husbandry, reproductive science, and de-extinction technologies, the team has a real opportunity to accelerate the effort and give the Tasmanian devil a fighting chance.

Why a fat-tailed dunnart is the devil’s “stunt double”

Before any vaccine or genetic approach can be tested in an endangered devil, it has to be proven safe in a stand-in — and the fat-tailed dunnart, a close evolutionary cousin of the devil, is uniquely built for the role. The Colossal Foundation is helping the University establish a dedicated dunnart colony in Hobart, transferring breeding and husbandry protocols its team originally built for an entirely different mission: bringing back the thylacine, the extinct Tasmanian tiger.

That is what makes the collaboration bigger than one disease or one species. The same de-extinction technologies and stem-cell tools developed to resurrect an animal that no longer exists are now being redirected to keep a living species from disappearing.

“This partnership reflects exactly why Colossal exists. Our de-extinction programs are fueling the development of entirely new biological tools and platforms. In Australia, the work we are doing to bring back the thylacine has already helped establish the dunnart as a powerful model for marsupial genomics and reproductive science. We’re now deploying those same technologies against one of the most devastating wildlife diseases on Earth. This is what the conservation power of de-extinction looks like.”

— Ben Lamm, Co-Founder and CEO, Colossal

The partnership at a glance

A stake for Tasmania itself

The effort has a hometown audience. Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary has cared for hundreds of devils across the decades DFTD has spread across the island.

“For nearly thirty years, we have watched DFTD mercilessly take countless devils from the Tasmanian landscape. At Bonorong we’ve cared for hundreds of Devils as this horrific plague rages on. Anything that gives our devils a real path back deserves our full support.”

— Greg Irons, Director, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary

With the collaboration now underway, the future of a species once thought to be on the brink may depend in part on the success of a much smaller, unlikelier marsupial.

Frequently asked questions

What is devil facial tumour disease?
It’s a contagious cancer affecting Tasmanian devils, first identified in 1996 with a second strain in 2014. Both are nearly always fatal, it spreads through biting, and it has reduced the wild devil population by roughly 80 percent.

How are the Colossal Foundation and the University of Tasmania fighting it?
On two fronts: a field-ready oral vaccine developed by immunologist Andrew Flies, and research into the LZTR1 gene to test whether devils can be made naturally more resistant — with the fat-tailed dunnart used as a safe test model.

Why use the fat-tailed dunnart?
The dunnart is a close evolutionary cousin of the devil, so treatments can be proven safe in this stand-in before being tested in endangered devils. Colossal is establishing a dedicated dunnart colony in Hobart using husbandry protocols originally built for its thylacine program.

What does this have to do with de-extinction?
The same de-extinction technologies and stem-cell tools Colossal developed to work toward reviving the thylacine are being redirected to protect a living species from disappearing.

This article is based on reporting by Green Matters Staff for Green Matters. Read the original story here.