Who knew an elephant could potentially be the animal that could holds the cure to cancer?

Cancer is a disease most of us can relate to, unfortunately: It takes loved ones, friends, colleagues, many people away from us, every single day. It's a nasty thing. To this day there hasn't really been a cure for it.

CNN has reported that elephant genes can hold clues for the fight against cancer and that scientists are looking into it.

Scientists are stumped by it. Elephants are mammals that rarely get cancer, but why? They have 100 more times the amount of cells than humans, so they would naturally have a 100% more chance of developing the disease.

A group of scientists at the University of Utah said the disease should be triggered in them throughout their 50 to 70 years of living. However, the cancer mortality rate is less than 5% in elephants versus 25% in humans.

Why? is the question.

Also according to CNN, groups of scientists at both the University of Utah and Arizona State did a few studies. They found out that elephants have extra genes that will stop tumors long before they can even develop.

Scientists have said that they have 40 copies of this gene, and it acts as a protein (p53) that is known for its cancer-preventing characteristics, while humans only have two copies of that gene.

The elephants can also kill or repair the damaged cells. This means if something is to become cancerous, the body can kill it before it gets to that stage.

Without those extra genes, the elephant species could be extinct by now. So, what does this mean for human treatments?

Scientists think that creating more protein (p53) is nature's way of keeping the species alive.

Humans will always have a better chance of getting cancer, but scientist think this information will provide insight to finding a cure.

It's up to scientists to continue to study how certain animals resist cancer, so they can put it together to create a cure for humans.