Trends in Ecology and Evolution – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.05.011
Uncoupling Elephant TP53 and Cancer
Elephant testicles do not descend, with implications for sperm production being hot enough to compromise germline DNA replication/repair.
Journal
Trends in Evolution and Ecology
Author(s)
Professor Fritz Vollrath
Summary
Elephant testicles do not descend, with implications for sperm production being hot enough to compromise germline DNA replication/repair. Uniquely, elephants also possess 20 copies of a gene encoding for the p53 protein. Did elephants evolve multiplication of the TP53 gene complex to protect their germline rather than to fight cancer?