The Effects Of Genetic Mutations On Dna Repair Systems And Mutations

Cancer is a term used for diseases in which irregular cells divide without any control and have the capability to penetrate and infect normal body tissue through the blood and lymph system. Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality in the United States, exceeded barely by heart disease. According to the CDC Cancer Statistics and Data, there were more than 1.45 million people diagnosed with various kind of cancer between 1999 and 2007 and out of those more than 562,000 people died due to cancer (cdc.gov, 2012). Currently there are more than 200 different types of cancer that have been discovered. Cancer could be

Cancer is described as the abnormal growth of cells. Normal cells are replaced with abnormal cells in which their deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has been damaged or augmented (McCance & Huether, 2014). Cancer cells with their various DNA changes are characterized by growing uncontrollably, being immortal with an unlimited lifespan

Imagine that within the snap of your finger the very tumor in your body, that was once rapidly dividing and taking over your organs is now gone. All because of a “cure”. Well, snap your fingers right back into reality. Although a cure is very much wanted, there is not one. The only “cure” is within ourselves, a simple lifestyle change. According to the Cancer Center, next to heart disease, the largest cause of death today in the United States is cancer.

Cancer is a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells. The DNA sequence in cells can be changed as a result of copying errors during replication. If these changes whatever their cause are left uncorrected, both growing and non-growing somatic cells might gain many mutations that they could no longer function. The relevance of DNA damage and repair to the generation of cancer was obvious when it was recognized that everything that causes cancer also cause a change in the DNA sequence. Tumor suppressor genes are protective genes and normally they limit cell growth by monitoring the speed of cell division, repair mismatched DNA and control when a cell dies. When a tumor suppressor gene is mutated cells grow

On December 10, 2015, three profound individuals received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work on DNA repair systems. Paul Modrich, Thomas Lindahl, and Aziz Sancar studied how the cell repairs and protects the information held in its DNA; specifically, Paul Modrich focused on DNA mismatch repair. Since DNA constantly replicates, damage and incorrect pairings are expected, but enzymes watch over DNA as it replicates and repair any errors that occur. In the mismatch repair system, enzymes find the mismatch in the copy of DNA, cut the incorrect section out, and replace it with the correct sequence. Paul Modrich’s study of the mismatch repair system has provided the medical field with important information regarding cancer growth and the possibility of a cure.

One of the most common illnesses that pharmacies and medical professionals have been trying to find a cure for is cancer. Cancer has many different types and stages, each with separate and devastating effects.

There are many questions that the answer to is unknown. One of the biggest unanswered questions is: what is the cure for all cancer? Of course, chemotherapy can be used to kill cancer cells in lots of types of cancer but the side effects that treatment can have on the human body are unlimited. The next best treatment we have for cancer is hope, and

Cancer is figured to be the second leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. With approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths in 2012, alone .Why are so many people stuck suffering with this deadly disease? Millions of dollars have been invested into cancer research, yet there is no cure. Are these pharmaceutical companies focus on finding a cure for cancer or concentrating on elongated treatments in order to lengthen their pockets? We must first understand that cancer is big business earning huge profits. Nonetheless, the cancer industry is spending virtually zilch of its multi-billion dollar resources on effective prevention strategies, like dietary guidelines, exercise, natural remedies and herbs proven to cure cancer. Instead, it pours its money into treating cancer, not preventing or allaying it.

According to Mark Wanner from The Search Magazine says, we have a lot more research than in the past, but the reason we can’t cure it is because, a cancer treatment is not “one size fits all”. There are many different types of cancer, and with that we can’t cure all of them with just one simple medicine. There would have to be many complex medicines to get rid of the cancer.

We are lucky enough to live in a modern world and have access to numerous studies and awesome medical reveals. But, we have not found a cure for the modern plague – cancer.

Cancer diseases are a collection of heterogeneous disease entities, which differ substantially in clinical outcomes and risks with respect to genetic factors, environmental factors, and clinical characteristics such as age, gender, etc. Certain therapy can benefit one subgroup in survival, but maybe ineffective for another subgroup.

Changes in a genetic sequence are known as mutations. Mutations affect nucleic acids on many different levels. This is significant because nucleic acids are the building blocks of DNA. Some mutations affect only the individual that carries them, while others affect all of the carrier organism's offspring, and further descendants (Loewe 426). Although mutations go hand-in-hand with diversity for the greater good of organisms, they also can cause a wide range of consequences. Mutations can cause DNA to be altered through environmental, chemical, spontaneous, an flawed replication factors.

Cancer occurrs by the production of multiple mutations in a single cell that causes it to proliferate out of control. Cancer cells often different from their normal neighbors by a host of specific phenotypic changes, such as rapid division rate, invasion of new cellular territories, high metabolic rate, and altered shape. Some of those mutations may be transmitted from the parents through the germ line. Others arise de novo in the somatic cell lineage of a particular cell. Cancer-promoting mutations can be identified in a variety of ways. They can be cloned and studied to learn how they can be controlled.

Cancer is an abnormality in the body that results from uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. These unchecked growth results from the body’s’ control mechanisms’ inability to function normally. As a result of this abnormality, the old cells of the body do not die yet they are supposed to die. Therefore, the cells grow out uncontrollably forming a mass of tissue called tumor (Dollinger, 72). However, it’s not all forms of cancer that form tumors in the body. There is usually correct numbers of each cell type in the body. The genes in the cells then produce signals which mitigate cell division. When one or all these signals become faulty, then the cells start to grow unanimously to form a tumor.

In that cancer has afflicted humans throughout recorded history and dates back to approximately to 1600 B.C., the definition of eminent as it relates to finding a cure could be stated as a period exceeding fifty to a hundred years. However, using such a timeframe would render our statement unappealing. So, to make the statement that the cure for cancer is eminent intuitively appealing, we will define eminent as within five years. To test this concept we need to turn to the opinions of oncologists and other cancer specialists who are involved in the quest to conquer cancer. Dr. Otis Brawley, Chief Medical Officer for the American Medical Society feels, “the idea in calling for a cure does scare me a little bit because I don’t think that’s realistic in some cancers” (Landau). Dr. Leonard Saltz, a notable colon cancer expert at Memorial Sloan-Kettering stated of cancer, “It’s a much more complicated problem than anyone ever appreciated. It will, unfortunately, be with us for a long time” (Landau). These two respected doctors echo the opinion of most other experts. These experts believe the emphasis now is more on managing the cancer than curing it, much like we manage diabetes or heart disease. Additionally, the very fact cancer encompasses over 200 diseases and we have yet to cure a single one is daunting evidence that the cure for cancer is not imminent and we must therefore discard the notion.