On Aug 24, 2007, at 12:39 PM, Sukie Crandall wrote: >Dr. Michelle Hawkins of UC Davis and one of her ferret health research >teams ... has found MEN (Multiple Endocrinological Neoplasia) genetics >in some ferrets... >Dr. Bob Wagner of Pitt (U. of Pittsburgh) has found in some ferrets a >P53 genetic variant which reduces the ability to fight malignancies so >those little, early ones which bodies often fight off have more of a >chance to take hold and continue. Excellent! I must admit, my stint of doing cancer research was a long time ago, in the early 80's, so my data is very much out of date. I'm glad to hear that this sort of cancer/ genetic research is indeed being done for ferrets. You are so good at keeping up with things, Sukie -- your sig may say "(not a vet)" but you are a wonderful reference librarian (and I have the highest regard for reference librarians). Even if we have identified some specific genes, though, I imagine we are still far from the day when a breeder can take a ferret kit and have it tested for these genes -- which is what breeders would need to do if genetic testing is to replace just watching the parents to see if they develop problems. Thanks for the info! -Claire PS and for the new information on "longevity genes" -- do you have a link to that full article? [Posted in FML 5710]