Curing cancer. It's been the goal of biochemists for decades. Well, we still haven't gotten to that point, but we are now one step closer. While studying melanoma cancers (caused by a buildup of melanin, or pigments that cause skin and hair color), a group of researchers discovered that the cause maybe found in the control center of the genes.
This is a revolutionary concept. Before, researchers had always simply studied the genes, but as one scientist said, “The brakes or the gas that control the genes that cause cancer are as important as gene mutations."
Other studies based on this finding show that mutations in the control region of the gene, not just the gene mutations themselves, are inherited and linked to cancer, and thus are genetically linked.
So what does the mutation do anyways? Basically it promotes the production of telomerase. What is that? Picture your DNA, coiled like a ladder. Telomerase is the chemical that holds together the ends of the "ladder," called telomeres, and with this extra substance, the cells become basically immortal. Now doesn't that sound appealing?! The problem is, only the cancerous cells are the immortal ones, which actually is worse.
Telomerase also reportedly has other overlooked functions, which are still being researched.
We certainly haven't come close to curing cancer, but now we can start that process. After all, could you build a plane without the blueprints? With the knowledge of the inheritance of cancerous genes, as well as new information on telome
rase and gene control malfunctions, we now can start to assemble the plane and cure cancer.
So what do you think? Can we do it? Can we actually cure cancer? Well, that is up to one of us. Maybe one of our peers will do it. Or maybe their research will help a future generation cure cancer. Who knows? Maybe it will be you! Are you up to the challenge?
God Bless America
Back to biology class, eh? I think that this is a tremendous achievement in the research for the cure to cancer. Geneticists are already able to reconstruct DNA sequences and alter genes, so the more we know about the gene structures of cancerous cells, the closer we can get to find a cure for cancer. The main thing we need right now in the cure to cancer is knowledge. We need to know more about what is going on and what is happening down to a molecular level. Once we have a clear sight as to what is happening with cancer, we can then develop a cure from there. And this discovery with telomerase is, like you said, just another step to finding the cure to cancer. This really is a great discovery. What will we find next? At the rate we are going, I believe that the cure to cancer is indeed in our sights.
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