ArticlePLoS biology2019
Transmissible cancer and the evolution of sex.
Article in PLoS biology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cross-species comparative transcriptomic analysis of spermatozoa reveals species-specific regulatory networks linked to fertilization-associated genes in cattle, sheep and goats.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Article
- Whole-Genome Sequence of Potamopyrgus antipodarum-A Model System for the Maintenance of Sexual Reproduction-Reveals a Recent Whole-Genome Duplication.Genome biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Vertical Cancer Transmission via Asexual Fragmentation and Associated Cancer Prevalence.Evolutionary applications · 2025Article
- Micro-to multi-chimerism: the multiple facets of a singular phenomenon.Seminars in immunopathology · 2025Review
- Upregulation of DNA repair genes and cell extrusion underpin the remarkable radiation resistance of Trichoplax adhaerens.PLoS biology · 2021Article
- Why isn't sex optional? Stem-cell competition, loss of regenerative capacity, and cancer in metazoan evolution.Communicative & integrative biology · 2020Review
- Article
- Transmissible Cancers in an Evolutionary Perspective.iScience · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The origin and subsequent maintenance of sex and recombination are among the most elusive and controversial problems in evolutionary biology. Here, we propose a novel hypothesis, suggesting that sexual reproduction not only evolved to reduce the negative effects of the accumulation of deleterious mutations and processes associated with pathogen and/or parasite resistance but also to prevent invasion by transmissible selfish neoplastic cheater cells, henceforth referred to as transmissible cancer cells. Sexual reproduction permits systematic change of the multicellular organism's genotype and hence an enhanced detection of transmissible cancer cells by immune system. Given the omnipresence of oncogenic processes in multicellular organisms, together with the fact that transmissible cancer cells can have dramatic effects on their host fitness, our scenario suggests that the benefits of sex and concomitant recombination will be large and permanent, explaining why sexual reproduction is, despite its costs, the dominant mode of reproduction among eukaryotes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.