Something Good Comes from Possums

Scientists at NZ’s AgResearch and Otago Medical School may have found the cure for a common prostate problem and it is largely thanks to NZ’s no.1 environmental pest: the brush-tailed possum. According to a study published in AgResearch’s In Touch magazine, the prostate gland in possums is anatomically identical to that found in humans. The possum’s prostate gland grows and shrinks in accordance with breeding seasons. By studying the brush-tailed possum the scientists hope to find the trigger which causes the prostate to shrink and then replicate it in a drug for humans, thus removing the need for invasive surgery. The research is currently in its third year.