Why do some animals, like sharks and crocodiles, have such powerful immune systems that they rarely get sick or develop cancer, and could we learn from them to improve human health?
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> Why do some animals, like sharks and crocodiles, have such powerful immune systems that they rarely get sick or develop cancer
Because the environments they live in are very, very nasty. Crocodiles live in gnarly and rotten swamp waters that teem with bacteria and fungi, so it makes sense that over millions of years they’ve evolved to be able to combat them and survive. Compared to us, their immune systems seem especially robust, but relative to their environment their immune systems are no more capable than ours are; evolution dictates proportionality of traits.
As for your second question, [we do study them](https://www.wired.com/2005/08/antibiotics-from-crocodile-blood/) and have been doing so for decades. We also study [axolotls](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7214127/#:~:text=The%20axolotl%20has%20the%20ability,a%20limb%20regenerate%20%5B12%5D.), primates, mice, and jellyfish because they all show promise for human clinical applications. It’s not straightforward though, it takes a lot of time and money and it’s difficult to replicate the mechanisms they use in a safe and effective way for humans.
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