An Unstoppable Killer: New Research Suggests Cancer Can't Be Eradicated
Since Richard Nixon declared in 1971, the National Cancer Institute has poured some $90 billion into research and treatments. Yet a cure remains elusive. Experts have plenty of targets for blame, including a and Big Pharma betting on .
But a new study raises a sobering possibility: Cancer simply may be here to stay. Researchers at Kiel University, the Catholic University of Croatia and other institutions discovered that hydra — tiny, coral-like polyps that emerged hundreds of millions of years ago — form tumors similar to those found in humans. Which suggests that our cells' ability to develop cancer is "an intrinsic property" that has evolved at least since then — way, way, way before we rallied our forces to try to tackle it, said Thomas Bosch, an evolutionary biologist at Kiel University who led the , published in Nature Communications in June.
To get ahead of cancer, he said, "you have to interfere with fundamental pathways. It's a web of interactions," he said. "It's very difficult to do." That's why cancer "."
Cancer results from DNA mutations that throw a wrench into the molecular circuits that regulate the cell cycle. Unregulated, cancer cells multiply uncontrollably. They also evade a process known as apoptosis, in which cells with genetic mistakes essentially commit suicide.
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All this means that cancer genes, and the mechanisms that allow tumor cells to evade death and invade healthy tissue, "have deep evolutionary roots," the researchers wrote. "Any crucial cell in your body can at any point make a mistake," and there's no way to prevent it, Bosch said.
"You carry a time bomb in your body when you're born," he said. "It can explode early in life, or middle age or later."
But, Bosch adds, "that doesn't mean that, with a patient who develops cancer, there's nothing you can do."
While our cells probably always will have the ability to make mistakes that trigger cancer, Bosch believes "medical technology will allow us at early time points ... at least in some cases, to successfully treat and clean a patient completely and forever of troublemaking cells."
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看個輕鬆的:
有位員工帶到公司做午餐的三明治總被人偷吃了。無奈之下，隻好貼張紙條詢問。之後的發展很好笑。你們看圖吧。。。
Stop, Thief! Office Sandwich Stealer Asks For Ransom in Hilarious Note Battle With Colleague
If you are planning revenge on your co-worker from hell or your mean boss, don't try this (read till the end and you'll know why).
The unknown perpetrator wrote back demanding a ransom. Yup, that's right. And he did like a pro. "I have your precious sandwich, it's safe. For now. Put 10 dollars on the plate in the fridge or you'll never see it undigested again," the note read.
"Grow-up...this is unprofessional" wrote the victim and also threatened to contact the HR department if the sandwich wasn't returned. Yikes!
If you thought mere gluttony was behind the theft, think again. Revenge isn't always a dish best served cold.
And finally, HR interfered.
The thief wasn't ready to give up, wanting to trade the sandwich for a pizza. Will HR bargain?
Hello! It's the HR department and let's not forget that their favourite word is... any guesses? This, of course
Oh, that's just cruel.
But crime really doesn't pay. The thief (identified as Francis) got his comeuppance in the end. He was nabbed, all hail technology
