Monday, February 03, 2003

Telomerase 'Off' Switch for Cancer Cells


Secrets of Cancer's "Eternal Youth"

Whoa. Cool stuff.

The gist here is that cancer cells may be re-activating a gene that supports our initial cell growth in the womb. The result: cancer cells replicate forever and never stop. (Normal cells don't.). This effect is produced, quite possibly, by the cell unravelling its copy of the telomerase gene, which holds the on/off swtich for cell growth. According to the article, about 85% of cancers re-activate this unlimited cell growth sequence. Now, quite possibly, we 're on the edge of turning that back 'off'.

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