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19 Comments
- Alias1431, on 07/03/2009, -0/+5Telomeres are basically the little plastic things on the end of shoe laces, the laces being your chromosomes, As you age they "fray." Cancer cells can reproduce without "fray."
- DirtyVicar, on 07/03/2009, -0/+5This message brought to you by the Napa Valley Agricultural Union.
- zachstanley, on 07/03/2009, -0/+3Interesting useless trivia: That little plastic thing is called an "aglet".
- gcnaddict, on 07/03/2009, -0/+2Telomerase is also a key enzyme being observed for hopes of immortality. It basically keeps adding dummy code to the tips of chromosomes, enabling DNA to continue replicating. Without it, these cells would hit a wall after telomeres (the dummy code) run out and bam, there goes the cell's ability to replicate.
Problem is, this beneficial effect works on both normal cells and cancer cells (cells are cells), so it's a double-edged sword.
Those people who live to the age of 130 or so? They've likely got the telomerase gene enabled and managed to get lucky enough to not get cancer. Granted, other aging factors are involved as well, so it's not like this is a cure-all, but it's a very important link in the chain. - threon, on 07/03/2009, -0/+2alcoholic vegetarians never get cancer?
- leesonis, on 07/03/2009, -0/+2I'm sorry, but I have to correct you. It is true that a vegetarian diet is associated with a 12% decrease in cancer incidence (http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v101/n1/pdf/6605 ... , but once you have it, a vegetarian diet has no measurable effect on outcome. The best treatment for cancer is early detection and resection, followed by chemo or radiation therapy, depending on type, location, and stage.
Healthy diets are always better though.
Also, the evidence supporting the health benefits of red wine are anecdotal, and not supported by scientific studies. The current medical recommendation is either drink in moderation or not at all, do not start drinking to improve anything. - thisthatwhat, on 07/03/2009, -0/+2Maybe cancer is just evolution then? Cancer is just a slow evolution than eventually leads to the cure for aging. In the meantime, it's killing many of us. But when fully evolved the future human generations will live forever!!
- gcnaddict, on 07/03/2009, -0/+1thisthatwhat is onto something.
Aging is something which can't get knocked out via typical naturally-selective means (by blocking reproduction, for instance). However, amongst those with the gene, vigorous cancer would weed out those whose genetics predispose them for cancer, thus leading to longer lifespans for the remainder of people who carry the gene but aren't carrying a cancerous genetic mutation.
Again, telomerase isn't the only factor for aging, but it's one of the big ones. - dafragsta, on 07/03/2009, -1/+2... and what year was that biology class taken in?
- ninernick, on 07/03/2009, -0/+1The new information is that telomerase interacts with beta-cantinenin, which is part of the wnt pathway, which has been linked with cell growth.
Terrible article though. The last statistic I heard was that telomerase was activated in only 30% of cancers as opposed to 90% as the article states. - zachstanley, on 07/03/2009, -0/+1The problem is that in order for a mutation or change to persist and be "selected" by evolution, it must somehow result in a healthier or stronger organism within the population. Interesting and thought-provoking comment nonetheless.
- ninernick, on 07/03/2009, -0/+0There really isn't any direct evolutionary advantage to living until 130 since most women can not reproduce past about 50, and male reproductive efficiency has been shown to worsen over time. You could say that living to that age provides an altruistic advantage since older people can aid in the success of kin.
"I would lay down my life for two brothers or eight cousins" Haldane - tech42er, on 07/03/2009, -1/+1Really? High school biology? I'd believe an advanced, maybe even intro level college course? But high school bio? Please/
- ninernick, on 07/03/2009, -1/+1I learned about telomerase in AP Bio in high school. I probably would have learned about it in regular biology, but my teacher didn't believe in evolution so we ended up doing arts and crafts.
- smash20, on 07/03/2009, -3/+2I didn't bother to read the article, but how is this "new" information? I learned about the role of telomerase in normal somatic cells and cancer cells in high school biology...
- inactive, on 07/03/2009, -2/+1"I didn't read the article, but..."
- syntaxgs, on 07/03/2009, -7/+3so basicaly it,s stem cell that cause all the problem in the first place?? I thought stem cell was good
- mazuki2873, on 07/03/2009, -5/+0Nice article.
http://mynasyid-online.blogspot.com/ - EmilyCragg, on 07/03/2009, -13/+0
The simplest and easiest way to handle a cancer is to keep attacking it with alkalizing red wine and green veggies.
Anything the medical profession tries to do will make money for them and ensure your early demise.
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