GENETIC MUTATIONS AND CANCER

Genetic Mutations and Cancer



Genetic Mutations and Cancer

Introduction

All cancers are caused by changes to materials in our bodies called “genes.” These are units of information in every cell of our bodies. Genes tell our bodies which proteins to make based on the type of cell and its needs. Some genes tell our bodies how to fix damage accumulated over time from normal aging, environmental toxins, sun exposure, dietary factors, hormones, and other influences. These damage-controlling genes can repair cells or tell cells when to stop growing and die if there is too much damage to repair. When genes themselves are damaged, they can develop changes called “mutations.” When mutations occur in the damage-controlling genes, cells can grow out of control and cause cancer (Kleihues, 2003).

The paper focuses on the idea of genetic mutations and their link with the development of cancer. It attempts to cover fourteen scientific articles addressing the issue of genetic mutation in relation to cancer development. The paper gives a brief overview of genetic mutations and attempts to highlight the different types of genes that are associated with cancer development. It also mentions the occurrence and types of mutations that result into cancer (Burgess, 2000).

Discussion

Results of a new study by physicists at the University of Warwick and in Taiwan hint at the possibility that one day the electronic properties of DNA could play a role in early diagnosis and detection of mutation hotspots. Researchers drew on the power of supercomputers to model every possible mutation for 162 disease-related genes, a total of 5 billion calculations (Krainer, 2001).

When they compared the models with medical databases of real-life mutations known to have caused cancer in individuals, they found that the real-life mutations had a "stealthier" electronic structure than the theoretical mutations which didn't have a documented real-life counterpart (Moseley et al. 2001). These disease-causing mutations caused a smaller change in the electronic structure of the DNA molecule, which may make them less detectable to the cell's damage repair process at work on a molecular level. Professor Rudolf Roemer from the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick said: "We studied the scale of change in electronic charge transport for pathogenic mutations when compared to all possible mutations (Hill et al. 2001).

Gene mutations that can Lead to Cancer

The 2 main types of genes that play a role in cancer are oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes.

Oncogenes

Most oncogenes are mutations of certain normal genes called proto-oncogenes. Proto-oncogenes are the "good" genes that normally control what kind of cell it is and how often it divides. When a proto-oncogene mutates (changes) into an oncogene, it becomes a "bad" gene that can become permanently turned on or activated when it is not supposed to be. When this happens, the cell grows out of control, which can lead to cancer (Heaney et al. 2002).

Inherited Mutations Of Oncogenes

A few cancer syndromes are caused by inherited mutations of proto-oncogenes that cause the oncogene to be turned on ...