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Research programme 04
Evolutionary cancer protection
We compare p53 systems across invertebrates, mammals and elephants to understand how development, stress adaptation and tumor suppression co-evolved.
Comparative biology reveals which p53 features are ancient and which emerged with vertebrate complexity, long lifespan or large body size. The group studies p53 homologues and retrogenes across species to reconstruct this evolutionary history.
Elephants are a particularly informative model because their expanded TP53 repertoire offers a route to investigate Peto's paradox, stress sensitivity and cancer resistance at molecular resolution.
