Radiation Damages DNA and Causes Cancer
The article is explaining how
researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute discovered a pattern in
human cancers that help doctors better identify if tumors have come about
because of radiation. More specifically, they are looking at the DNA damage and
mutation signatures and how they can tell the story of whether these cancers
came about by radiation or not. They also are looking at if these cancerous
tumors from radiation should be treated differently.
In this article I learned that DNA
damage can leave what is called a mutational signature. Dr. Peter Campbell from
the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute led a study where the researchers looked
for mutational signatures in 12 people with secondary radiation-associated
tumors. They compared these with 319 that had not been exposed to the
radiation. It was said that from this study they concluded that these
mutational signatures can be compared with other DNA sequences of various
cancers and will be diagnosis’ tools for the future in learning how radiation
causes cancer.
I also learned about balanced
inversions and how they do not occur naturally in our bodies. If these inversions
were found in a human with cancer, then the researchers concluded that they
were caused by high-energy radiation that can cause enough DNA breaks at the
same time. One reason the radiation does so much damage to the DNA is because the
DNA repair system cannot keep up with the amount of damage that is happening
simultaneously.
I thought the article was
interesting because I wanted to see what the connection was between DNA and
cancer. Also, I’m very interested and hopeful that one day we can cure cancer.
Any potential break-through in technology or information about cancer is
interesting to learn more about it. If we can figure out the cure for cancer,
then not only our society, but the entire world will be changed for the better.
I thought that this article was pretty interesting, i think someone posted a similar article but i really enjoyed your take on it and how you connected the various mutations in DNA leading to Cancer.
ReplyDelete-Jacob C
I think it is fascinating that a means of treatment for cancer has actually proven to do the opposite of treating it. Since the cancer cells are so strong and aggressive I wonder if their would be something less powerful than radiation that would actually prove to be a successful treatment. Is there another way that researchers have found that cancer could be treated? What could be a safe form of treatment for tumors and cancer? -A.S.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question; This may sound a bite homeopathic, however, there is a documentary called "forks over knives" and it spoke about how our biggest fighting factor to cancers and illness is our immune system. It then goes on to show how animal products and processed foods inhibit our immune systems and reduce them down to nothing, and that's when disease strikes. Our bodies don't have the healthy resources to fight off the diseases due to our poor eating, so we succumb to illness. There is a cancer institute in Arizona with a high survival rate, and their claim to their success is changing the patients' diets to completely vegan. https://integrativemedicine.arizona.edu/online_courses/nut_cancer.html there is the link if you'd like some more information on their alternatives.
DeleteHW
I think it is fascinating that a means of treatment for cancer has actually proven to do the opposite of treating it. Since the cancer cells are so strong and aggressive I wonder if their would be something less powerful than radiation that would actually prove to be a successful treatment. Is there another way that researchers have found that cancer could be treated? What could be a safe form of treatment for tumors and cancer? -A.S.
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty interesting article. When I was reading through it, I was wondering how they were testing their hypothesis on radiation-associated tumors. I know it says that they were doing research with human participants, but could they test this out in mice? petri dish?
ReplyDeleteR.T.
Exactly how much radiation are we talking to cause a cancerous mutation? Also, does it just build it? For example, say a person is exposed to a little tinny tinny radiation each year, and in 50 years can that be a whole lot of radiation that will cause us to get cancer? Like, I am not about to heat up my food in the microwave if that is the case. haha
ReplyDeleteA.G
do we have an idea, of how long, or of how much radiation we would need to have in order for the damage to start, and then for the damage to truly effect us? also, what short of radiation are we talking about? specific to cancer treatments, or phones, or microwaves?
ReplyDelete