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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

A cancer spreads worldwide, thanks to global shipping

A tumour affecting mussels in Chile and France is traced to a single Northern Hemisphere mussel of a separate species.
A bed of common mussels. Mytilus edulis in Little Fistral, Cornwall, UK.

Huge numbers of blue mussels (pictured) in France have died from a transmissible cancer that originated in a related species. Credit: Alamy

A contagious cancer affecting shellfish has crossed oceans — and species barriers — to threaten mussels in Europe and South America.

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Nature 575, 260 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03427-1

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