Word: mhc
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...Sydney University geneticist Kathy Belov admits that until recently she thought the species, soon to be officially listed as endangered, was doomed. Her team's work on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes - which activate an immune response in all vertebrates - confirmed late last year that devils have so little genetic diversity that their immune systems simply don't treat the tumor cells as a threat. That was the grim news from the island's east, where the disease has hit hardest. But it now seems that devils from the more isolated west could be different. It's a distinction that...
...Good news came first from a devil named Cedric. When tests showed that he had a different MHC type from eastern devils, Cedric was injected with dead tumor cells. The researchers were elated when his body began fighting them. Last December he was injected with live tumor cells. So far, he's still healthy. The Special Six, caught last year, also have MHC types not seen in the east, says immunologist Woods, who's based at the University of Tasmania. "It's never happened before that a disease has spread through a population without some animals being resistant - even Ebola...
...past two years, only 10 animals with tumors have been found in a forestry area known as West Pencil Pine, a favorite devil haunt. That suggests that the disease's spread is slowing. Could local devils be resisting it? Belov and Woods are both itching to compare MHC types in the region, and a major effort to trap West Pencil Pine devils will soon begin. "The next month could be a watershed," says Woods. "We're hoping for a lot of positive data...
...only does kissing serve the utilitarian purpose of providing a sample of MHC, but it also magnifies the other attraction signals--if only as a result of proximity. Scent is amplified up close, as are sounds and breaths and other cues. And none of that begins to touch the tactile experience that was entirely lacking until intimate contact was made. "At the moment of a kiss, there's a rich and complicated exchange of postural, physical and chemical information," says Gallup. "There are hardwired mechanisms that process all this...
...deliver the goods. For all the joy it promises, it can also play us for fools, particularly when it convinces us that we've found the right person, only to upend our expectations later. Birth-control pills that mask a woman's ability to detect her mate's incompatible MHC are one way bad love can slip past our perimeters. Adrenaline is another. Any overwhelming emotional experience that ratchets up your sensory system can distort your perceptions, persuading you to take a chance on someone you should avoid...