According to a new study, some Tasmanian devils from the northwest of the state are genetically different from their friends and probably immune to cancer.

The revelation can lead to finding a treatment for the horrible facial tumor disease that scares to make the species extinct.

Kathy Belov from the University of Sydney, said, "The majority of devils in Tasmania are immunological clones and therefore susceptible to the disease".

"We think more animals might survive in the wild than we initially thought".

Breeding more resistant devils in custody before letting them out into the wild, will probably save them from getting wiped out.

If adequate measures are not taken to unravel the cancer mystery, Scientists feel the Tasmanian Devil is left with as little as 25 years.

After the first account of devil facial tumor disease in 1996, the population of the marsupial has dropped by 70%.

Associate Professor Belov, said, “The current breeding program should continue unchanged while more research is done, but with a focus on maintaining genetic diversity”.