Slanted Science

Archive for the ‘Cancer’ Category

Cancer begins when a single cell’s DNA acquires sufficient mutations in key areas (or ‘genes‘) that it can no longer regulate its own growth. The cell begins to divide and divide repeatedly, being unable to either sense or act upon the signals coming from nearby cells telling it to “be a good neighbor and quit with all the mitosis already“. The result, perhaps only detected after several years of growth, is a tumor.

But why are some cancers relatively benign – growing in mass but showing no inclination to leave their location – while others are extremely aggressive, throwing out their seeds to grow as copies of the original cancer (or ‘metastases“) in different parts of the body? Well, scientists are reporting that they have discovered a new reason which partly explains the aggressive behavior: cancer cells can dramatically ramp up production of a protein which helps them to release energy and cellular building blocks from stored fat. Read the rest of this entry »

A large collaborative effort has sequenced the entire genomes of two of the most common cancer types: skin (’melanoma‘) and lung (’small-cell lung cancer)’. The scientists involved report tens of thousands of mutations in the tumors’ genomes, and speculate that their work may expedite the development of specific drugs to treat these diseases.

Hoorah!

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If you arrived here after an internet search for ‘nude mice‘, then you’re either in need of psychiatric care, or else you’d like some more information on a very important laboratory animal. Or both.

Either way: welcome!

Our recent story, describing the significance  of the naked mole rat in cancer research, reminded us of another example of nudity in this field. And so we give to you the nude mouse: over 40 years at the forefront of the race to develop new treatments for cancer and other diseases. Read the rest of this entry »

Hairless, buck-toothed, visually repulsive to most humans, and living their lives in darkened burrows away from the rest of the world, these creatures are advancing scientific knowledge.

But enough about computer programmers, let’s introduce the star of this story: the naked mole rat. These creatures appear to be completely resistant to spontaneous cancers, of the kinds which all other animals succumb to (including, despite the urban myth, sharks). Scientists now believe they have discovered the reason for this immunity to tumorigenesis: a second layer of molecular protection against abnormal cell cycle progression. Read the rest of this entry »

What turns a normal cell into a cancer-causing cell? Well, the cell must lose control over its replication machinery, and this almost always happens in one or both of two ways: the genes which tell a cell to divide can develop mutations and become permanently switched on; or the genes which stop a cell from dividing develop mutations and become permanently switched off.
Genes in the first group – those which drive a cell to divide inappropriately – are called oncogenes, and scientists are reporting that they have discovered an oncogene which causes a nasty form of head/neck glandular cancer.

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