#paradox #medical #science #sciencefacts #interestingfacts #animation #characteranimator Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedevdoctor Peto’s paradox is named after epidemiologist Richard Peto, who discovered this phenomenon when studying the relationship between time and cancer development in mice. Peto observed that the probability of cancer progression was related to the duration of exposure to certain cancer-causing molecules (carcinogens). As part of his work, he began to wonder why humans, who possess 1000 times more cells and live 30 times longer than mice, have similar rates of developing cancer. Further, cancer was not a major cause of mortality for large and long-lived wild animals, despite the increased theoretical risks. So, other than pure scientific interest, why should we care? Well, if cancer suppression has evolved differently, in different species, throughout history, then thoroughly studying the genomic traits and cell biology of many larger organisms is likely to lead to better therapeutic strategies. However, this presents a problem with the way we live our lives today. We are currently in the midst of the Earth's sixth mass extinction, with extinction rates 1000 times the historical rate. But if different species hold the key to the development of novel therapeutic agents to treat cancer, for every species we lose, we may be losing the solution to one of the world’s leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Hopefully, with the appreciation of concepts such as this, both cancer prevention and an appreciation of the need for biodiversity and the conservation of species across the planet will become increasingly important on the world stage. --- Further reading and references: https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-017-0401-7 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3060950/ https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2456041 https://elifesciences.org/articles/11994 --- If you enjoyed this video, check out some of my other videos: How an MRI machine works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foStVT7mqmY How CRISPR Technology Works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3UxUSuVgIY How a pulse oximeter works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3p9mgDCpd4 --- Music: Riviera by Smith The Mister https://smiththemister.bandcamp.com/ Smith The Mister https://bit.ly/Smith-The-Mister-YT Over You - Atch https://soundcloud.com/atch-music Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/_over-you Music promoted by Audio Library https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlBuOflkHSk Freedom by Roa https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/-_freedom Music promoted by Audio Library https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJdHGwJKMwY --- With thanks to MixKit for all sound effects: https://mixkit.co/free-sound-effects