Scientists make breakthrough in saving lives of endangered Tasmanian Devils

Tasmanian Devils may still have a chance at survival after researchers made a major step in developing a vaccine for the killer facial tumor that has wiped out 90 percent of the wild population.

Scientists from the Menzies Institute at the University of Tasmania announced late on Wednesday they had successfully initiated the Devils' immune system to fight off the devastating disease.

Researchers grew facial tumors in a laboratory, killed them and then mixed the tumor with a substance that induces inflammation and initiates tissue repair.

The most exciting aspect for researchers was that the Devils' immune system appeared to recognize and attack the tumor when the vaccine was injected, whereas it had previously ignored the tumor, leading to disastrous effects.

The facial tumor disease has decimated the wild population, killing most of it within 20 years of the contagious disease's discovery.

The carnivorous marsupial, the size of a small dog, is now listed as endangered and an insurance population of disease-free Devils has been set upon Maria Island on the east coast of Tasmania.

That insurance population will provide 15 Devils for the next stage of testing, following the initial six-animal trial.

Researcher Alex Kriess said larger trials would help scientists understand the variation of response in the first trial.

"Overall, they were good responses but we need a much higher number of Devils to tell what a good protocol is," Kriess said.

"Before we are very confident we would have to do a field trial, probably hundreds of animals."

Currently, the immunization is in the form of a series of injections administered over six months.

Researchers hope to eventually develop a single injection vaccine to protect the wild population, but it is still too early to know how long that will take. Endi