Friday, February 19th, 2010

Dolphins and Comparative Medicine

The Navy cares for over 100 marine mammals--mainly dolphins and sea lions. The animals are trained to hunt for mines, look for enemy divers and other marine tasks. Veterinarian Cynthia Smith, director of medicine at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego, Calif., explains the health care program for the Navy's dolphins. (Credits: Produced by Flora Lichtman) See More Videos

Chimps and mice are the usual test subjects scientists study when they want to learn about the human body. But could we learn something about humans by studying the physiology of marine mammals a such as dolphins? In this segment, live from the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego, we'll talk with researchers who are doing just that. Some researchers are studying a sort of natural "on-off switch" for diabetes in dolphins in hopes of learning more about human diabetes. We'll also talk about how viruses infect humans and dolphins -- what happens when a dolphin gets a cold? Could viruses pass between dolphins and humans?