About 6,000 years ago, an unfortunate dog suffered from a relatively rare form of cancer. Since then, unlike any other cancer, its cancer cells were swiftly transmitted from one dog to another. Today, this age-old ailment has a name—Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumour or CTVT.  In a  recent study, they traced the history of CTVT to Asia, and in the process, helped understand the evolution of cancer in the long term.

Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology and Department of Biotechnology, India and Professor Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge,  along with other researchers from the University of Cambridge and from various Indian research institutions met today in New Delhi to formalise the launch of TIGR2ESS – an acronym for “Transforming India’s Green Revolution by Research and Empowerment for Sustainable food Supplies”.