Contact Networks, Immunity, and Evolution in Competing Cancer Epidemics

该项目旨在评估影响袋獾的两种传染性癌症流行病之间的进化相互作用，并量化它们对感染风险和流行病行为的反馈。使用接触追踪和系统发育框架，我们的目标是量化肿瘤谱系如何随着每一代感染而进化，以及它们对感染易感性和疾病进展的影响。我们希望揭示宿主的免疫遗传基础，支持癌症抑制和适应能力的人群在应对传染病。这将大大提高我们了解和管理野生动物中这种和其他流行病爆发的能力，并提高我们在癌症生态学和进化方面的知识。

The project aims to evaluate evolutionary interactions between two transmissible cancer epidemics affecting Tasmanian devils and quantify their feedback on infection risk and epidemic behaviour. Using contact tracing and a phylogenetic framework we aim to quantify how tumour lineages evolve with each generation of infection and their effects on susceptibility to infection and disease progression. We expect to reveal the host immuno-genetic basis underpinning cancer suppression and the adaptive capacity of populations in response to infectious diseases. This should significantly improve our ability to understand and manage this and other epidemic outbreaks in wildlife, as well as advancing our knowledge in cancer ecology and evolution.