Soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria) from a seafood market in New York.MICHAEL J. METZGER
A fatal leukemia that decimates soft-shell clam (Mya arenaria) populations in the Atlantic may be caused by a contagious cancer cell line, according to results published today (April 9) in Cell. Stephen Goff of Columbia University in New York and his colleagues compared leukemic and healthy hemocytes, finding that clam cancer cells isolated from various locations along the East Coast shared mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and other genetic features, indicating a common origin.
Clams with this cancer show an overgrowth of abnormally shaped hemocytes, which convert the clear circulatory fluid of healthy animals to a milky-white color. Sickened animals die within weeks or months; neoplasia is one of several factors that can wipe out entire beds of clams.
Previous studies have suggested a virus might trigger ...
