Platies and swordtails have a role in helping researchers further their studies on melanomas found in humans.
For the past 20 years, scientists at the University Of Texas M.D. Anderson Science Park have been studying the species Xiphophoruswhich is more commonly known asplatyfish and swordtails because they are shown to be highly susceptible to tumors. Melanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer in humans and scientists are studying its relationship with UV radiation.
According to researcher Dr. Rodney Nairn, “We use Xiphophorus fish because it was noticed in the early part of the 20th century that these fish – when hybridized by mating different species together – produce offspring that sometimes form tumors. And these tumors resembled melanomas".
Platies and swordtails are live bearers which live in Eastern Mexico and Central America. Their genetic make up of these fish are very similar to those in human beings. Researchers have found a gene that can cause the fish to be more susceptible to develop melanoma when they are exposed to UV radiation.
There are many type tumors that are found in fish that also occur humans, such as in the brain and eye muscle to name a few. So with the cross breeding and studying of these fish, hopefully there will be advances that will benefit human kind. If we can understand the causes and reasons of melanoma in fish, it will bring us much closer to understanding the causes and reasons in humans.
In my own opinion, the cure for most of our diseases and problems will come from the research of fish and animals. Above all, this research shows us that we are not advanced as we think and still have much in common with inferior plants and animals.
