In this addition to the critically acclaimed Scientist in the Field series, Dorothy Patent follows the scientists trying to put a stop to a gruesome disease before it's too late.Tasmanian devils are dying at an alarming ratefrom a type of tumor that appears to be contagious. What scientists are learning while researching the Tasmanian devil has potential to affect all animals, and even humans, as they learn more about how to prevent and hopefully eradicate certain genetic diseases. In 1995, adeadlydiseasebegansweeping acrossthe Australian island state ofTasmania,killing every infected Tasmanian devil.The disease moved so fast that some scientists feared the species would be wiped out in the wildwithin a few decades. Where did this disease, named Devil Facial Tumor Disease, come from? What caused ita virus, bacteria, or something else? How did it pass from one devil to another?What could be done to fight it? When author Dorothy Hinshaw Patent learned of the race to save the devil from her friend, Australian geneticist Jenny Graves, shefelt compelled to travelto Australia to learnfirsthandfrom scientists what they were finding out about these iconic Tasmanian animalsand what they were doing to helpit from disappearing in the wild. Follow Dorothy as she takes readers on a fascinating journey into the Australian mainland and Tasmania, visiting parks and wildlife refuges and joining geneticist, ecologists, and other researchers as they work tirelessly to save Tasmania's unique icon.
