Tackling a Turtle Tumor Threat
Fibropapillomatosis, a tumor-promoting disease in sea turtles, is growing in prevalence locally in the RGV and globally. This project is a partnership between UTRGV and the community based Sea Turtle Inc. to tackle this disease. We have used innovative genomic technologies to profile sea turtle tumors to answer fundamental questions about the disease biology. This project has fostered community partnerships and engagement in research, and highlights UTRGV’s environmental sustainability mission on a research issue that impacts the RGV and beyond. We have collected blood, tumor and/or healthy tissue samples from 14 individual green sea turtles and have profiled these samples to identify what genes are disrupted in tumor tissues that might lead to fibropapilloma development.
Team:
- Dr. Nicholas Blackburn – Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Human Genetics and South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute in the UTRGV School of Medicine
- Mariana Devlin – Conservation Coordinator for Sea Turtle Inc.
- Jeff George – Executive Director of Sea Turtle Inc.
- Dr. Joanne Curran – Professor in the Department of Human Genetics and South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute in the UTRGV School of Medicine
- Dr. Megan Keniry – Assistant Professor in the UTRGV College of Sciences Biology Department
- Nina Nahvi – Licensed Veterinary Technician for Sea Turtle Inc.
- Dr. Ana Leandro – Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Human Genetics and South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute in the UTRGV School of Medicine
- Marcelo Leandro – Research Associate III in the Department of Human Genetics and South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute in the UTRGV School of Medicine
- Ignacio Martinez Escobedo – Instructional Designer II in the UTRGV School of Medicine
- Juan Manuel Peralta – Bioinformaticist in the Department of Human Genetics and South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute in the UTRGV School of Medicine
- Dr. John Blangero – Professor in the Department of Human Genetics and South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute in the UTRGV School of Medicine
- Dr. Brian Stacey - Veterinary Medical Officer for NOAA Fisheries, Office of Protected Resources, (Gainesville, Florida)
- Dr. Thomas deMaar – Senior Veterinarian at the Gladys Porter Zoo
