Figure 1

Elephants have been evolving for over 55 million years, including growing to a size greater than 100 times that of humans. In addition, elephants can live up to 70 years of age. With such increased cellular mass and extended longevity, nearly every elephant should succumb to cancer due to so many cells dividing for so often during their extended lifespan. Remarkably, elephants only develop cancer at the very low rate of less than 5%. This surprising natural protection from cancer in large and long-lived species like the elephant has been termed “Peto’s paradox.” Through genomic and functional studies, Dr. Schiffman and his colleagues discovered that elephants have evolved 40 copies (20 versions) of TP53 instead of the 2 copies (1 version) found in humans. TP53 has been called the Guardian of the Genome due to its ability to protect cells from turning into cancer through either DNA repair or cell death from apoptosis. Recent research by Dr. Schiffman’s team has shown that the extra copies of elephant p53 (EP53) work together in a unique fashion to trigger more robust apoptosis than human p53.

Dr. Joshua Schiffman is the CEO and Co-Founder of PEEL Therapeutics, delivering evolution-inspired medicine to patients. Dr. Schiffman is also a Professor of Pediatrics and Investigator at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. He works as a Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Schiffman graduated from the Brown University School of Medicine in 2000, followed by clinical training in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Stanford University from 2000–2008. His academic research and now commercial efforts focus on cancer risk in children and studying animals that naturally are protected from cancer, like elephants. Dr. Schiffman has co-founded several exciting new startup companies to impact cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.