MetaFilter posts tagged with Biology and cancer

Cancer Causing Viruses

mdpatrick — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:10:56 -0800

Paul Ewald, an evolutionary biologist at University of Louisville in Kentucky states his conviction, in one interview with Discover Magazine that, that by 2050 the human species will have found that between 80% and as high as 95% of cancers are caused by viruses. from Discovery Magazine Article:

Viruses push cells to the brink; additional mutations from genetic defects or the environment are needed for full-blown cancer. Keep in mind that the vast majority of mutating agents provoke cells to stop functioning or to die, meaning there is no chance for those mutations to cause cancer. Without an infection, the few mutated cells that could potentially cause cancer stop proliferating after several divisions. But infected cells can reach such high numbers that the progression to cancer is not terminated by the many mutations that kill the cells or make them nonfunctional. The small percentage that are cancer-causing can continue to proliferate.

Do they preserve scientific transparency, protect profits or both?

zarq — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:16:38 -0800

On behalf of medical organizations, universities, & individual patients, pathologists and genetics researchers, the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Utah-based Myriad Genetics and the US Patent and Trademark Office. Myriad holds the US patents to the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, associated with hereditary causes of breast and ovarian cancers. Their patents guarantee the company the right to prevent anyone else from testing or studying those genes, which the ACLU says is unconstitutional and inhibits researchers from finding treatments and cures. The ACLU has posted a FAQ explaining the suit. It might be news to some that genes, gene fragments and the tools used to assess them can be patented. Here's some general info on patent eligibility and qualifications. Some question whether such patents spur or stifle research Myriad's BRCA test to measure the likelihood that someone would develop ovarian or breast cancer was in the news a couple of years ago, when a study revealed that it produces false negatives. Concerns were also raised in the EU over the patents when they were initially filed. Previously on MeFi

I'm going to check my Facebook page... wait, what was I doing again?

desjardins — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:58:33 -0800

Dr. Aric Sigman has told us that TV is literally killing us, that it makes children pregnant, that Batman makes our kids violent and that multitasking ruins children's attention span. Now he says that social networking can cause cancer, strokes, and dementia. (PDF of press release)

Children's Hospital Boston

homunculus — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:54:59 -0800

Interactive Features at the Children's Hospital Boston's Website. [Via Mind Hacks.]

Poor Devils

parudox — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 09:04:29 -0800

Devil facial tumor disease has ravaged the population of Tasmanian Devils in the last decade. DFTD is a transmissible cancer, i.e. the tumor cells themselves (which differ genetically from their host animal) are the agent responsible. The disease is spread by biting and other contact, and the resulting grotesque tumors interfere with feeding and lead to starvation. Poor immune response may be partially responsible. This is actually not the only such disease: canine transmissible venereal tumor is an analogue that has been known to be contagious since the 19th century. (CTVT, however, gets a proper immune response.) Wikipedia: DFTD, CTVT. The evidence for this method of transmission is quite recent. Here are the studies referenced in the articles: Allograft theory: Transmission of devil facial-tumour disease. (Nature wants your money, though.) Transmission of a fatal clonal tumor by biting occurs due to depleted MHC diversity in a threatened carnivorous marsupial. Clonal Origin and Evolution of a Transmissible Cancer.

Evolution and Cooperation

homunculus — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:25:56 -0800

In Games, an Insight Into the Rules of Evolution. Carl Zimmer writes about Martin Nowak (previously mentioned here), a mathematical biologist who uses games to understand how cooperation evolved. [Via MindHacks.]

Cancer Cure Patented

TravisJeffery — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 23:33:14 -0800

Cancer Cure Patented A group of researchers claim that they are patenting a possible cure for cancer involving nothing more than sugar and short-chain fatty acid combination.

steve.wdc — Mon, 20 May 2002 12:22:00 -0800

The famous biologist and anthropologist Stephen Jay Gould died in his home today of cancer at the age of 60.