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Researchers at the University of Utah are now working with human cells to see whether the elephant's cancer-fighting technique could lead to new medical treatments.

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Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty, FILE
PHOTO: Elephants are pictured at a water hole in Etosha National Park, Namibia.
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“I mean, this is happening in a petri dish, but it’s really exciting. You have these cancer cells and when -- they’re human cells, but they’ve been taught essentially to act like elephant cells would. And so, when a mutation happens that’s cancerous the cells, instead of reproducing, just kill themselves. For a really long time we figured like the way we’re going to have to fight cancer was one cancer at a time, because they’re very different. But this process appears to work for every kind of cancer that they’ve tried it on,” concluded LaPlante.

For more information, visit the Schiffman Lab at the University of Utah.

Inside Science is an editorially-independent nonprofit print, electronic and video journalism news service owned and operated by the American Institute of Physics.

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PHOTO: Inside Science
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