Genetics, A Key in Understanding Cancer

One of the things that has peaked my interest recently is some research involving the transformation of skin cells into stem cells being done at the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research. This process of transforming skin cells into stem cells involves the use of viruses to reprogram the DNA of the skin cells into embryonic-like stem cells. This discovery was made over 2 years ago, but at the time there was a problem. This infusion of viral DNA into the skin cells to make them into stem cells caused the cells to replicate uncontrollably; in general the skin cells became stem cells, which later became cancerous cells. This problem was resolved in March of 2009 by the Whitehead Institute. Researchers found that by introducing an enzyme called Cre-recombinase right after the viral DNA was introduced, they could disengage the viral DNA and prevent the newly formed stem cell from becoming cancerous. What interested me the most about this discovery was how this discovery is linked to genetics. Cancer has been one of the biggest enigmas in the medical world, yet it is caused by the simplest problem. Cancer, simply put, is a cluster of cells that grow uncontrollably because of a genetic irregularity. This mutated gene is called an oncogene (from the Greek root onco- meaning tumor, bulk, volume) and it can be easily isolated. After learning of this discovery, I began to wonder as to the possible application of this discovery to the problem of cancer, realizing at the same time that the problem of cancer is genetically based. Because gene expression is situated in the transcription and translation of DNA into protein, can the problem of understanding cancer be solved by back tracking this process and comparing the DNA that produces the irregular proteins in cancerous cells to those of normal cells?

To this post, I would like to include the links to the article I read and further information that can be found at the website for the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/virusfreeips/

http://www.whitehead.mit.edu/news/archives/2008/rj_0701.html

A Wannabe Leonardo da Vinci

I became interested in medicine during my sophomore year of high school, when I took Honors Biology. At the time, I noticed I had an affinity towards the subject matter within the study of Biology. I became particularly fascinated with genetics and the process by which out genes affect protein synthesis, in turn affecting genomic expression. I became so intrigued by this concept that I went on to create my own medical experiment to discover, on a genetic level, what causes trisomy 21, which causes a genetic condition known as Down Syndrome. I became interested in engineering during my senior year of high school, during the college application process. When considering what major to adopt, I know I wanted to studying something in the realm of Biology, but with a more diverse application. I sought this diversity of application because of a principle that my grandparents raised me with. My grandparents attempted to mold me into what they called a "Renaissance man" by diversifying my knowledge into as many fields as possible. They attempted to do this by exposing me to as many world cultures through traveling. At the age of 19, I have visited every continent on the Earth and have seen about 35% of the world. As my grandmother once said, "Knowledge breeds tolerance through the awareness of the riches that exist in cultural differences. Ignorance breeds intolerance through a lack of willingness to acknowledge cultural differences. Therefore, the answer to absolving the world of ignorance and intolerance is exposure to different cultures."