Precision wildlife medicine: applications of the human‐centred precision medicine revolution to species conservation

Abstract

The current species extinction crisis is being exacerbated by an increased rate of emergence of epizootic disease. Human-induced factors including habitat degradation, loss of biodiversity and wildlife population reductions resulting in reduced genetic variation are accelerating disease emergence. Novel, efficient and effective approaches are required to combat these epizootic events. Here, we present the case for the application of human precision medicine approaches to wildlife medicine in order to enhance species conservation efforts. We consider how the precision medicine revolution, coupled with the advances made in genomics, may provide a powerful and feasible approach to identifying and treating wildlife diseases in a targeted, effective and streamlined manner. A number of case studies of threatened species are presented which demonstrate the applicability of precision medicine to wildlife conservation, including sea turtles, amphibians and Tasmanian devils. These examples show how species conservation could be improved by using precision medicine techniques to determine novel treatments and management strategies for the specific medical conditions hampering efforts to restore population levels. Additionally, a precision medicine approach to wildlife health has in turn the potential to provide deeper insights into human health and the possibility of stemming and alleviating the impacts of zoonotic diseases. The integration of the currently emerging Precision Medicine Initiative with the concepts of EcoHealth (aiming for sustainable health of people, animals and ecosystems through transdisciplinary action research) and One Health (recognizing the intimate connection of humans, animal and ecosystem health and addressing a wide range of risks at the animal-human-ecosystem interface through a coordinated, collaborative, interdisciplinary approach) has great potential to deliver a deeper and broader interdisciplinary-based understanding of both wildlife and human diseases.

Sea turtle fibropapilloma tumors share genomic drivers and therapeutic vulnerabilities with human cancers

“…The increased rate of emerging diseases, and their exacerbating negative effects on already stressed wild populations, poses an additional burden on already elevated rates of population reduction and species extinction 4,18,23–25,76–81 . The application of omic technologies and human precision medicine approaches can rapidly help alleviate the burden of such diseases and assist in identifying causative factors, ultimately improving species conservation 1 .…”

“…Here, we demonstrate the applicability of precision wildlife medicine 4 to improving animal health and advancing wild animal clinical care. In order to determine the molecular signaling events responsible for driving fibropapilloma tumor growth in green sea turtles ( C. mydas ), we employed precision medicine approaches 47–49 , previously honed in the field of human oncology.…”

“…Green sea turtles ( Chelonia mydas ) are the species most commonly and severely afflicted with fibropapillomatosis (Fig. 1), but it also occurs in all other sea turtle species 4–7,10–12 , and evidence suggests that its geographic range is spreading 6,8,9,13 . Fibropapillomatosis is now being reported from more northern latitudes where it has never been previously recorded 6 .…”

“…Many emerging infectious diseases (25–44%) are viral or prion in nature 18,19,21,22 . It is clear that vertebrate virus-borne disease can spread through the marine environment, and that anthropogenic effects (e.g., habitat degradation) are largely responsible for the increased rate in the emergence of infectious diseases 4,18,23–25 . Therefore, a more concerted effort to improve our understanding of pathogen-induced cancers in wildlife, including potential exacerbating effects of human coastal land use, is crucial for enhancing both human and wildlife health.

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Success of Wildlife Disease Treatment Depends on Host Immune Response

“…For the increasing numbers of emerging wildlife diseases, such as the recently discovered snake fungal disease (Tetzlaff et al, 2015) or the multiple etiologically complicated coral diseases (Weil and Rogers, 2011;Sutherland et al, 2016), our study underscores the importance of studying the host response concurrently to investigating mechanisms of infection and transmission. The fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidi has caused worldwide declines in amphibian populations, leading to coordinated efforts to control pathogen spread, understand mechanisms of transmission and infection, and treat the disease (Whilde et al, 2017). However, efforts to treat infection have been largely unsuccessful and different species have varying degrees of susceptibility (Heard et al, 2011;Woodhams et al, 2012).…”