Did evolution make us cancer-prone?

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J

JCM

Did Evolution Make Us Cancer Prone?
ScienceDaily (July 3, 2009) — Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have discovered that gene mutations that once helped humans survive may increase the possibility for diseases, including cancer.

The findings were recently the cover story in the journal Genome Research.
The team of researchers from BGU's National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN) set out to look for mutations in the genome of the mitochondria, a part of every cell responsible for energy production that is passed exclusively from mothers to their children. The mitochondria are essential to every cell's survival and our ability to perform the functions of living.

"Our ancestors responded to environmental changes, such as climate shift, with mutations that increased their chances of survival. But today, these same mutations predispose us toward complex diseases such as cancer," according to researcher Dr. Dan Mishmar, a molecular biologist from the Department of Life Sciences at BGU. "Although mitochondria's role in the emergence of new species has been investigated recently, the idea that they are responsible for our susceptibility to illness startles many."

To test this hypothesis, the researchers analyzed the genome mitochondria mutations from 98 unrelated individuals. Combinations of mutations tended to occur in tumors in precisely the same DNA building blocks that changed during evolution. The team also found that the mitochondrial genome of humans who migrated out of Africa to Europe 100,000 years ago carried seven mutations found in almost all of today's Europeans.

"The concept that the same principles that drive evolution toward the emergence of new species govern the emergence of diseases is new," Mishmar explains. "A clinician looks at the genome of a tumor, or other disease, and compares it to the normal population, looking for new mutations that do not occur there. I assume the mutations are already part of the population and have had a survival function. When these same mutations reoccur in the correct environment, they can cause disease."

As reported in the leading journal Genome Research, "We show, strikingly, that evolution repeated itself in cancer. If we better understand how evolution moved, we can understand the genetic basis of many complex disorders. Since mitochondria play a central role in disease, if we understand how they work and the way they changed our ability to survive in different conditions in ancient times, we can understand the mechanics of the disease. And we'll understand a lot about the way certain people develop diseases and others have a lower tendency toward those same diseases. This may lead to new methods of disease prevention or cures."
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:tumbleweed:

The future of humanity?
 
S

Scarlet Varlet

Where 10,000 years ago many of us would be approaching, or past our life expentency (Sorry, Dave) of ~35 years, now our bodies last up to 100 years. Look where most of these nasty ailments strike people. :slap:

Incidently, one year ago today a mate died of a heart attack while on holiday with his family. :tear:
 
S

Scarlet Varlet

escushion said:
So live to your fullest before you turn 40 and have no life anymore.
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Indeed. Eat, live and be merry.

Or live like you plan to live a long life and see your physio regularly.
 
C

Chibibar

This is what I believe.

Average life today is around 80-100 years. Not long ago, less than 100 years, life expectancy is around 60-80 before that was lucky to live upto 50 (there are ALWAYS exception) Isn't cancer is just a cell mutation? granted it is cell mutation gone wrong, but still (I'm not sure on this just a hunch) We live in a world that is "protected" that before. We have immune shots, process food and such that hardly live it "rough" anymore any element that can cause a sickness DOES. My grandmother (she is around 80ish now) made fun of me when I complain a while back when our A/C broke. She didn't even have A/C in her days (nor a fan) We have grown soft I think.
 
ElJuski

ElJuski

Staff member
For shame, JCM. You should know that mutated mitochondria is a different (so much more awesome) Survival Horror game :blue:



...PARASITE EVE MOTHERFUCKERS :drool:
 
Steve

Steve

JCM said:
And poop in your pants?
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That is what I look forward to the most. When I'm 70 I'll just drop a load anywhere and blame it on my age. Checking out at the local shopping center drop my pants and whiz all over the gum. Hey, I'm 70 I don't know any better.
 
D

Dubyamn

Chibibar said:
This is what I believe.

Average life today is around 80-100 years. Not long ago, less than 100 years, life expectancy is around 60-80 before that was lucky to live upto 50 (there are ALWAYS exception) Isn't cancer is just a cell mutation? granted it is cell mutation gone wrong, but still (I'm not sure on this just a hunch) We live in a world that is "protected" that before. We have immune shots, process food and such that hardly live it "rough" anymore any element that can cause a sickness DOES. My grandmother (she is around 80ish now) made fun of me when I complain a while back when our A/C broke. She didn't even have A/C in her days (nor a fan) We have grown soft I think.
Click to expand...
Cancer is actually unregulated cell growth where cells grow and divide without slowing or stopping. It is caused by specific mutations that either hyper activate the gene that controls cell growth and division or that shuts down the genes that regulate and stop cell division.
 
C

Chazwozel

JCM said:
Did Evolution Make Us Cancer Prone?
ScienceDaily (July 3, 2009) — Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have discovered that gene mutations that once helped humans survive may increase the possibility for diseases, including cancer.

The findings were recently the cover story in the journal Genome Research.
The team of researchers from BGU's National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN) set out to look for mutations in the genome of the mitochondria, a part of every cell responsible for energy production that is passed exclusively from mothers to their children. The mitochondria are essential to every cell's survival and our ability to perform the functions of living.

"Our ancestors responded to environmental changes, such as climate shift, with mutations that increased their chances of survival. But today, these same mutations predispose us toward complex diseases such as cancer," according to researcher Dr. Dan Mishmar, a molecular biologist from the Department of Life Sciences at BGU. "Although mitochondria's role in the emergence of new species has been investigated recently, the idea that they are responsible for our susceptibility to illness startles many."

To test this hypothesis, the researchers analyzed the genome mitochondria mutations from 98 unrelated individuals. Combinations of mutations tended to occur in tumors in precisely the same DNA building blocks that changed during evolution. The team also found that the mitochondrial genome of humans who migrated out of Africa to Europe 100,000 years ago carried seven mutations found in almost all of today's Europeans.

"The concept that the same principles that drive evolution toward the emergence of new species govern the emergence of diseases is new," Mishmar explains. "A clinician looks at the genome of a tumor, or other disease, and compares it to the normal population, looking for new mutations that do not occur there. I assume the mutations are already part of the population and have had a survival function. When these same mutations reoccur in the correct environment, they can cause disease."

As reported in the leading journal Genome Research, "We show, strikingly, that evolution repeated itself in cancer. If we better understand how evolution moved, we can understand the genetic basis of many complex disorders. Since mitochondria play a central role in disease, if we understand how they work and the way they changed our ability to survive in different conditions in ancient times, we can understand the mechanics of the disease. And we'll understand a lot about the way certain people develop diseases and others have a lower tendency toward those same diseases. This may lead to new methods of disease prevention or cures."
Click to expand...
:tumbleweed:

The future of humanity?
Click to expand...
These news stories are always funny to me because they're about 3 years late of scientists have already known/ speculated about.

-- Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:09 am --

Dubyamn said:
Chibibar said:
This is what I believe.

Average life today is around 80-100 years. Not long ago, less than 100 years, life expectancy is around 60-80 before that was lucky to live upto 50 (there are ALWAYS exception) Isn't cancer is just a cell mutation? granted it is cell mutation gone wrong, but still (I'm not sure on this just a hunch) We live in a world that is "protected" that before. We have immune shots, process food and such that hardly live it "rough" anymore any element that can cause a sickness DOES. My grandmother (she is around 80ish now) made fun of me when I complain a while back when our A/C broke. She didn't even have A/C in her days (nor a fan) We have grown soft I think.
Click to expand...
Cancer is actually unregulated cell growth where cells grow and divide without slowing or stopping. It is caused by specific mutations that either hyper activate the gene that controls cell growth and division or that shuts down the genes that regulate and stop cell division.
Click to expand...
Yes. You could argue that cancer cells have discovered the secret to immortality (even though you eventually die from it). There are a couple of cell lines around from the 1950's actually. HeLa cells are a cervical cellline taken from a woman in the 50's (or 60's) regularly used in research.

Oh and I hearby ban Chibibar from ever partaking in anymore science discussions. :twisted:
 
C

Chibibar

Chaz:

:p

hehe. But what cause unregulated cell growth? just a gene that does it? Doesn't certain form of radiation can also cause cancer? I learn that unhealthy exposure to sunlight (unprotected long period of time not a single session) can cause skin cancer. So wouldn't cancer is a form of mutation (even specifc per dub)?
 
Frank

Frank

AshburnerX said:
No JCM... because they are blaming Mitochondria for illness, the next step in evolution would be this.

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Ha ha ha, not only were we on the same page with the same joke Ash, I even went to the same site for the same picture.

 
C

Chazwozel

Chibibar said:
Chaz:

:p

hehe. But what cause unregulated cell growth? just a gene that does it? Doesn't certain form of radiation can also cause cancer? I learn that unhealthy exposure to sunlight (unprotected long period of time not a single session) can cause skin cancer. So wouldn't cancer is a form of mutation (even specifc per dub)?
Click to expand...

The dis-regulation of gene function causes cancer. There is no one magic gene that causes cancer, and cancer in general is not a single disease. A number of things can cause unregulated cell growth and DNA damage (UV sunlight included), in fact there are cells in your body right now that probably have messed up growth and replication signals.

Here this explains things well:

 
@Li3n

@Li3n

People that make it pass puberty don't actually live much longer before, it's just that less children die because of medicines...


And the title is silly... of course evolution made us cancer prone... as it made us everything else we are at teh moment... unless a wizard did it...


As for a cure, isn't the immune system supposed to destroy those cells that go haywire?!
 
C

Chazwozel

@Li3n said:
People that make it pass puberty don't actually live much longer before, it's just that less children die because of medicines...


And the title is silly... of course evolution made us cancer prone... as it made us everything else we are at teh moment... unless a wizard did it...


As for a cure, isn't the immune system supposed to destroy those cells that go haywire?!
Click to expand...

I hereby ban you from science discussions as well
 
C

Chazwozel

@Li3n said:
Chazwozel said:
I hereby ban you from science discussions as well
Click to expand...
Now there's a great way to spread knowledge...
Click to expand...
I learned a long time ago that some people just don't get certain things and never will, but it gets tiring having to correct their wacky notions and impressions of science. One of my uncles was trying to convince me how he didn't believe Relativity was correct and that there is no way that Space and Time are one in the same. I guess I should just smile and nod more often.
 
D

Dubyamn

@Li3n said:
As for a cure, isn't the immune system supposed to destroy those cells that go haywire?!
Click to expand...
No your immune system doesn't have some magical ability to tell what cells are dividing properly and which ones are dividing at a unsustainable rate.

Also your bodies immune system isn't supposed to attack itself and when it does it is a huge problem. They are called auto-immune diseses.
 
C

Chazwozel

Dubyamn said:
@Li3n said:
As for a cure, isn't the immune system supposed to destroy those cells that go haywire?!
Click to expand...
No your immune system doesn't have some magical ability to tell what cells are dividing properly and which ones are dividing at a unsustainable rate.

Also your bodies immune system isn't supposed to attack itself and when it does it is a huge problem. They are called auto-immune diseses.
Click to expand...
1. Actually it does.

2. This is correct too.

Look guys, I really don't feel like wasting my time and writing out lectures here, but the gist of molecular biology is that it all happens in terms of conformation and concentration. That is the driving force behind a lot of molecular functions has to do with the conformation of proteins and their concentrations within and outside of cells.

Immunology is a wacky, wacky thing, but yes one of MANY factors in regulating abnormal cells is the immune system. The best way in laymen terms that I can describe cancer is that everything in your body runs on feedback systems with checks and fine balances. Often enough if one thing goes out of wack, another pathway is there to pick up the slack, but after so many failures or tipping of the balance things can go nuts pretty quick. Science is far from mastering these systems in any sort of way, and as the comic says there are many contributing factors to cancer.

I think the most important lessons I've learned in science is there are no absolutes. Anything that you try to define more than likely has an exception to that definition.
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

Chazwozel said:
@Li3n said:
Chazwozel said:
I hereby ban you from science discussions as well
Click to expand...
Now there's a great way to spread knowledge...
Click to expand...
I learned a long time ago that some people just don't get certain things and never will, but it gets tiring having to correct their wacky notions and impressions of science. One of my uncles was trying to convince me how he didn't believe Relativity was correct and that there is no way that Space and Time are one in the same. I guess I should just smile and nod more often.
Click to expand...
Oh, i see where the problem comes from... i'm actually not american... :twisted:
 
J

JCM

Chazwozel said:
@Li3n said:
Chazwozel said:
I hereby ban you from science discussions as well
Click to expand...
Now there's a great way to spread knowledge...
Click to expand...
I learned a long time ago that some people just don't get certain things and never will, but it gets tiring having to correct their wacky notions and impressions of science. One of my uncles was trying to convince me how he didn't believe Relativity was correct and that there is no way that Space and Time are one in the same. I guess I should just smile and nod more often.
Click to expand...
Steer clear from the FARK creatonism/evolution threads, it´ll make you cry.
 
C

Chazwozel

JCM said:
Chazwozel said:
@Li3n said:
Chazwozel said:
I hereby ban you from science discussions as well
Click to expand...
Now there's a great way to spread knowledge...
Click to expand...
I learned a long time ago that some people just don't get certain things and never will, but it gets tiring having to correct their wacky notions and impressions of science. One of my uncles was trying to convince me how he didn't believe Relativity was correct and that there is no way that Space and Time are one in the same. I guess I should just smile and nod more often.
Click to expand...
Steer clear from the FARK creatonism/evolution threads, it´ll make you cry.
Click to expand...
I've long ago stopped trying to reason science logic with creationists.
 
Fun Size

Fun Size

Chazwozel said:
I think the most important lessons I've learned in science is there are no absolutes.
Click to expand...
Given your post history, I think this is possibly the most interesting thing you have ever said.
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

Chazwozel said:
I've long ago stopped trying to reason science logic with creationists.
Click to expand...
Science logic you say... is that that new logic i heard about that's somehow different from normal logic?!
 
C

Chazwozel

@Li3n said:
Chazwozel said:
I've long ago stopped trying to reason science logic with creationists.
Click to expand...
Science logic you say... is that that new logic i heard about that's somehow different from normal logic?!
Click to expand...

Logic is relative.

-- Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:10 pm --

Fun Size said:
Chazwozel said:
I think the most important lessons I've learned in science is there are no absolutes.
Click to expand...
Given your post history, I think this is possibly the most interesting thing you have ever said.
Click to expand...
I don't speak in absolutes. I just happen to be correct 99.9% of the time. :smug:
 
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