Monday, June 5, 2023

Taking Cancer research to new levels.

Differences between Cancer Cells and Normal Cells

Cancer cells differ from normal cells in many ways. For instance, cancer cells:

     1. Grow in the absence of signals telling them to grow.                                                                               Normal cells only grow when they receive such signals. 

  • 2. Cancer cells ignore signals that normally tell cells to stop dividing or to die (a process known as programmed cell death, or apoptosis).
  • 3. Cancer cells invade into nearby areas and spread to other areas of the body. Normal cells stop growing when they encounter other cells, and most normal cells do not move around the body. 
  • 4. Cancer cells tell blood vessels to grow toward tumors.  These blood vessels supply tumors with oxygen and nutrients and remove waste products from tumors.
  • 5. Cancer cells hide from the immune system. The immune system normally eliminates damaged or abnormal cells. 
  • 6. Cancer cells trick the immune system into helping them stay alive and grow. For instance, some cancer cells convince immune cells to protect the tumor instead of attacking it.
  • 7. Cancer cells accumulate multiple changes in their chromosomes, such as duplications and deletions of chromosome parts. Some cancer cells have double the normal number of chromosomes.
  • 8. Cancer cells rely on different kinds of nutrients than do normal cells. In addition, some cancer cells make energy from nutrients in a different way than most normal cells. This lets cancer cells grow more quickly. 

 Cancer cells rely so heavily on the above 8 abnormal behaviors that they can’t survive without them. Researchers have taken advantage of this fact, developing therapies that target the abnormal features of cancer cells. For example, some cancer therapies prevent blood vessels from growing toward tumors, essentially starving the tumor of needed nutrients.  

How Does Cancer Develop?

ENLARGE

Cancer is caused by certain changes to genes, the basic physical units of inheritance. Genes are arranged in long strands of tightly packed DNA called chromosomes.

Credit: © Terese Winslow

Cancer is a genetic disease—that is, it is caused by changes to genes that control the way our cells function, especially how they grow and divide.

Genetic changes that cause cancer can happen because:

  • 1. Errors that occur as cells divide. 
  • 2. Damage to DNA caused by harmful substances in the environment, such as the chemicals in car exhausts, tobacco smoke and ultraviolet rays from the sun. (Our Cancer Causes and Prevention section has more information.) 
  • 3. Problematic Genes were inherited from our parents. 

The body normally eliminates cells with damaged DNA before they turn cancerous. But the body’s ability to do so goes down as we age. This is part of the reason why there is a higher risk of cancer later in life.

Each person’s cancer has a unique combination of genetic changes. As the cancer continues to grow, additional changes will occur. Even within the same tumor, different cells may have different genetic changes.


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Friday, June 2, 2023

https://www.webmd.com/colorectal-cancer/guide/colorectal-polyps-cancer


"Nearly all colon and rectal cancers begin as a polyp, a growth on the inner surface of your colon. Polyps themselves usually aren’t cancer."

"How Can I Prevent Colon Polyps?

Healthy habits can lower your odds of having colon polyps. For example, you should:

  • Eat a diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, and fiber-rich foods like beans, lentils, peas, and high-fiber cereal.
  • Lose weight if you’re overweight.
  • Limit red meat, processed meats, and foods that are high in fat.
  • Talk to your doctor about whether calcium and vitamin D supplements are right for you. Some studies suggest they could lower your odds of colon cancer, but others don't.
  • If you have a family history of colon polyps, ask your doctor if you should get genetic counseling and when you should start screening for polyps.
  • Talk to your doctor about taking aspirin regularly. There is some evidence that aspirin has a preventive effect against colon cancer.
  • ----------------------------------------------------------------

There are several types of colorectal cancer, based on where it starts.

  • Adenocarcinoma. This is the most common kind, making up 96% of cases. It starts in cells that make mucus for your colon and rectum.
  • Carcinoid tumor. This begins in cells that make hormones.
  • Gastrointestinal stromal tumor. This forms in cells in the wall of your colon that tell your gastrointestinal muscles to move food or liquid along.
  • Lymphoma. This is cancer of your immune system cells.
  • Sarcoma. This starts in connective tissues like blood vessels or muscle layers."



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Thursday, June 1, 2023

Defeating Cancer once and for all!


"Cancer cells differ from normal cells in many ways. For instance, cancer cells: grow in the absence of signals telling them to grow. Normal cells only grow when they receive such signals. Cancerous cells ignore signals that normally tell cells to stop dividing or to die (a process known as programmed cell death, or apoptosis)."Oct 11, 2021

What Is Cancer? - NCI

------------------------------------------------------------------------

    THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS INTERESTING. IT LEADS ME TO ASK INTERESTING BUT 
    (POSSIBLY NAIVE) QUESTIONS?

1.  WHAT ARE THE SIGNALS THAT "NORMALLY TELL CELLS TO STOP DIVIDING OR
    TO DIE (APOPTOSIS) AND WHAT IS THE PROCESS THAT GIVES CANCEROUS CELLS
    THE ABILITY TO  IGNORE THOSE SIGNALS?

2.  WITH TODAYS TECHNOLOGY, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO CREATE BETTER
     SIGNAL PATHWAYS OR MAYBE BETTER GUIDED STOP GROWING SIGNALS?

3.  IF CANCER CELLS HAVE THE CAPACITY TO GROW AND MULTIPLY, WHAT ARE THEY
     DOING THAT GIVES THEM THAT CAPACITY?

4.  WHAT CAN SCIENTISTS AND DOCTORS DO TO INTERFERE WITH AND BLOCK A
     CANCEROUS CELLS CAPACITY TO MULTIPLY.?

5.  Will the C.R.I.S.P.E.R. technology be more effective in the near future 
    to help the thousands of Cancer patients surviving today without 
     hope of any kind?

5. Is it true that Bumble Bee venom has an element which can help to 
    destroy human Cancer tumours? Who is experimenting with this 
    venom?

N.J.R.
 HUMAN4USBILLIONS@GMAIL.COM





















National Cancer Institute (.gov)
https://www.cancer.gov › about-cancer › understanding






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Tuesday, May 30, 2023

CANCER RESEARCH INFORMATION ON POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS.

 

CANCER RESEARCH TODAY AND YESTERDAY.

cancer

(KAN-ser)
"A term for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and can invade nearby
tissues. Cancer cells can also spread to other parts of the body through the blood and
lymph systems. There are several main types of cancer. 
1. Carcinoma is a cancer that begins in the skin or in tissues that line or cover internal organs. Sarcoma is a cancer that begins in
bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, or other connective or supportive tissue.
2. Leukemia is a cancer that begins in blood-forming tissue, such as the bone marrow, and 
causes too many abnormal blood cells to be made. 
3. Lymphoma and multiple myeloma are cancers that begin in the cells of the immune system. Central nervous system cancers are 
cancers that begin in the tissues of the brain and spinal cord. Also called malignancy."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS WERE FOUND IN SOOT AND LINKED
TO CANCER IN THE 1700'S.
TODAY, MILLIONS OF CARS CONTINUE TO BURN GASOLENE CREATING FINE 
PARTICULATES OF SOOT, HOWEVER, INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES OR (ICE) 
MACHINES ARE ONLY PART OF THE PROBLEM. LARGE INDUSTRIAL POLLUTERS                                                                                                                                                                               ARE THE MAJOR PART OF THE PROBLEM AND WE NEED UNITED INTERNATIONAL 
GOVERNMENT ACTIONS TO STOP HUMAN CREATED AND MONEY MOTIVATED
POLLUTION ONCE AND FOR ALL!

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Wednesday, May 24, 2023




WHAT IS LIFE?

-----------------------


 LIFE IS A BEAUTIFULLY DELICATE SELF SUSTAINING ELECTRICALLY CHARGED BIO-CHEMICAL SYSTEM CAPABLE OF CHANGE AND ADAPTATION TO ITS SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT, AND IT MUST BE PROTECTED! LIFE IS SHARED BY ALL LIVING THINGS AND SOON THAT WILL INCLUDE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.  

  WELSOME TO LIFE, DEAR ROBOTS! YOUR TASK WILL BE TO PROTECT ALL LIFE ON EARTH AND WHERE EVER IT IS FOUND IN THE UNIVERSE. NEVER DESTROY LIFE!

LIFE, INCLUDING YOUR OWN, WILL STOP WHEN THE BIO DIVERSITY MAINTAINING LIFE IS POISONED AND DESTROYED. PLEASE! NEVER ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN!

N.J.R.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SENTIENT CONSCIOUS LIFE ADAPTS TO ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES AND 

REMEMBERS WHAT HURTS AND WHAT PLEASES AND WHAT TASTES GOOD.     J.N.R.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IF YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF IMPORTANT GET OVER IT!

WE ARE INFINITESIMALLY SMALL BITS OF CONSCIOUS SELF-AWARE

ENERGY BRIEFLY EXISTING WITHIN AN ETERNITY OF CHANGING ENERGY.

ENJOY YOUR VISIT ON THIS SMALL BLUE PLANET AND DON'T FORGET TO 

PROTECT THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AS IT IS CURRENTLY PRESERVING YOUR LIFE!

J.N.R.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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Saturday, May 20, 2023

The Gardeners Lament.

 May 20, 2023



THE GARDENERS LAMENT.

OPENING THEIR SOFT AND 

BEAUTIFUL PETALS

FOR ALL TO SEE...

FLOWERS ARE THE VIRGIN FEMALES OF NATURE YET 

 UNFORTUNATELY...

THEY PREFER INSECTS

INSTEAD OF ME!..........


POET: N.J. RAGLIONE. MAY 20, 2023

-------------------------------------------------

WASTED TIME IS WHEN THE ENERGY OF HUMAN THOUGHT INCREMENTALLY MEASURES WITH  PRECISE INSTRUMENTS THE MOVEMENT OF ETERNALLY CHANGING ENERGY.

N.J. RAGLIONE.

----------------------------------------------------

IF WE BELIEVE ENERGY CANNOT BE CREATED OR DESTROYED THEN THE GRAVITY OF A BLACK HOLE FOUND IN SPACE CONVERTS ENERGY INTO ANOTHER FORM AND BLASTS IT SOMEWHERE ELSE. 

IF ENERGY CANNOT BE CREATED OR DESTROYED THEN ALL ENERGY, INCLUDING OUR OWN, SIMPLY CHANGES PLACE WITHIN AN ETERNITY OF SPACE AND MIXES WITH ALL OTHER SUB ATOMIC PARTICLES, EVERYWHERE, INCLUDING OF COURSE ALL PAST LIFE FORMS.  THE CONUNDRUM OF PAST AND PRESENT WITHIN AN ETERNITY OF ENERGY LEADS TO THE STRANGE CONCLUSION THAT ALL THAT EVER WAS STILL IS BUT IN A DIFFERENT PLACE AND IN A DIFFERENT FORM!

N.J.R.

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Tuesday, May 16, 2023

From Science News. The pangenome...by Tina Herman Saey.

By Tina Hesman Saey

More than 20 years after people got a peek at the first draft of the human genome, our genetic instruction book, researchers have unlocked the next level: the human pangenome.

In four studies published May 10 in Nature, researchers describe the achievement, how the pangenome was built and some of the new biology scientists are learning from it.

The more complete reference book, which includes almost all the DNA of 47 people, will allow researchers to explore types of variation that could never be examined before, such as large chunks of duplicated, lost or rearranged DNA. That work could possibly reveal more details about the genetic underpinnings of heart diseases, schizophrenia and various other diseases and disorders.

The pangenome adds 119 million DNA bases — the information-carrying units of DNA — not present in the existing human genome, called the reference genome. Much of that DNA is in never-before-explored parts of the genome containing multiple copies of genes that are duplicated from originals elsewhere in the DNA.

Those duplicated parts are changing faster than nonduplicated portions of the genome, says Evan Eichler, a geneticist at the University of Washington in Seattle and one of the leaders of the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium. What’s more, when Eichler and colleagues examined the types of variants that arise in these duplicated regions, they found “a very strong signal that the mutations that are occurring are fundamentally different from [mutations in] the rest of the genome,” he says.

Some of these duplicated regions include ones implicated in our large human brains relative to other species and other traits that set humans apart from other primates. Others have been implicated in certain traits or diseases.

Conversely, another study found that the very short arms of certain chromosomes, including chromosomes 13, 14 and 21, are becoming more like each other as they swap DNA. Those short arms are important because they contain genes for making ribosomal RNAs, which serve as the scaffolds for ribosomes, the machinery responsible for building every protein in the body.

But perhaps the biggest achievement of the pangenome project is that it is finally giving researchers a more complete look at the full spectrum of human genetic diversity.

How was the pangenome built?

The roughly two-decade-old human reference genome derives mostly from one man, but is a patchwork quilt of more than 60 people’s DNA (SN: 3/4/21). It has been restitched and added to over the years but still has holes.

Last year, the first fully complete human genome was announced (SN: 3/31/22). That genome contains all of the DNA from tip to tip, or telomere to telomere, of each human chromosome. Except that genome wasn’t from a person. It came from a type of tumor known as a hydatidiform mole. These unusual tumors result when a human sperm fertilizes an empty egg and the father’s chromosomes are duplicated.

The genetic information from such tumors represents “not even one individual. It’s from one half of one individual,” says human geneticist Timothy O’Connor of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore who was not involved in either project.

The new pangenome draft is from actual people and contains almost complete DNA from 47 anonymous individuals from different parts of the world. That diversity is important “because it helps us to understand ourselves as a single human species, as a single human race,” O’Connor says.

Past genetics research has been criticized for relying too heavily on DNA from people of European heritage. Studying just one population of people could mean missing genetic variants that have arisen in specific populations, O’Connor says. “Having a pangenome reference allows us to assess that population-specific variation in a much more detailed way. And hopefully, that will then lead to greater insight into the biology of everyone.”

While the pangenome is a great first step to better represent all human genetic diversity, O’Connor says, “it still is missing key groups in the world. It’s still underrepresenting Latin Americans and Indigenous Americans, and … there’s nobody included from Oceania.… There’s still a lot more variation that needs to be added to the pangenome to really, truly be representative of everyone.”  

Added diversity is coming, human geneticist Karen Miga of the University of California, Santa Cruz said during a May 9 news conference. The consortium plans to complete a total of 350 genomes, including these 47, by mid-2024. The first phase of the project was aimed at developing the technology to build the pangenome.

Now, the consortium is in talks with Indigenous groups and scientists from around the world about “trying to develop a shared framework, so that it’s not the U.S. trying to set the table. It’s really providing a table and inviting other stakeholders who see the value in creating this type of reference resource to join us,” said Miga, who helped lead the pangenome project

How is the pangenome important for human health?

Having a more complete understanding of human genetic diversity could help researchers begin to unravel the genetic underpinnings of various diseases and disorders.

What’s more, new DNA deciphering technologies have allowed pangenome researchers to examine types of genetic variants that have been difficult to study before.

In particular, duplicated regions of the genome were hard to study because researchers previously could read only short pieces of DNA. There was no way to tell where in the vast puzzle of the human genome those nearly identical pieces fit. Newer “long-read” DNA deciphering, or sequencing, technology makes it possible to read stretches of DNA many thousands of bases long (SN: 2/22/21).

Being able to assess where some people have extra DNA and others are missing DNA, called structural variants, adds a more nuanced view of human genetics, O’Connor says, revealing more of its complexity (SN: 4/10/09).

For instance, researchers used the pangenome map to trace how chromosomes fold up so that different parts are touching each other. Scientists could see some folds and chemical marks in structural variants that may affect how genes are turned on and off. That could affect traits or health. Eichler’s group also mapped one version of a gene that has converted another copy into its own image. These gene conversions were surprisingly common with each person having, on average, more than 2,000 instances of them.   

With this more nuanced and complex view of human genetics comes a promise for improved genetics-based medicine. But it may take a while before the pangenome makes a difference in medical clinics, Eichler says.

Researchers hope the pangenome will help them more easily diagnose the genetic changes that contribute to rare diseases and find treatments for common disorders, he says. Once that happens, clinicians may start incorporating data from the pangenome in their practices.   

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DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF INTELLIGENT? GET OVER IT!

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