This year’s first meeting within the 3rd season of the Scientific Premiere Stage took place on 16 February 2023. Dawid Surmik, PhD, from the USil Faculty of Natural Sciences, told us a bit about the tumour discovered in a prehistorian amphibian.
The scientist led the works of a team, which resulted in a publication entitled ‘An insight into cancer palaeobiology: does the Mesozoic neoplasm support tissue organization field theory of tumorigenesis?’ published in BMC Ecology and Evolution journal. Scientists have discovered osteosarcoma in a vertebra of an extinct temnospondyl amphibian, Metoposaurus krasiejowensis, discovered in Krasiejów near Opole, southwestern Poland.
During the interview hosted by Jarosław Juszkiewicz, Dawid Surmik, PhD, explained how fossils are researched and told us about the mysteries they hide. It seems that the remains might also be a source of invaluable information and shed light on diseases that plague contemporary medicine.
The event was broadcast on the University’s YouTube Channel, where you can watch previous episodes. The event was translated into Polish sign language.
Learn more
You can read more about the research led by Dawid Surmik, PhD can be found in the article ‘Cancer found in a bone of a prehistoric amphibian over 210 million years old’ published on the Silesian research.
Dawid Surmik, PhD, talked with Jarosław Juszkiewicz | Photo by Ryszard Tyl
