title: The singular history of a canine transmissible tumor.
abstract: In this issue of Cell, Murgia et al. (2006) confirm that the infectious agent of canine transmissible venereal tumor is the cancer cell itself and that the tumor is clonal in origin. Their findings have implications for understanding the relationship between genome instability and transmissible cancer and for conservation biology, canine genomics, and companion animal medicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Bridgett M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: VonHoldt
authors.forename: Elaine A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ostrander
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D046028:Canidae / Q000235:genetics*; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000235:genetics; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000635:transmission; D004285:Dogs; D051456:Gene Flow / Q000235:genetics; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal / Q000235:genetics; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D014685:Venereal Tumors, Veterinary / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology