Chronic Viruses: The Common Cause of Most Cancers
The Mystery
The current belief in medical research holds that cancer begins with a genetic mutation, in simple terms: with injured genes. However, the huge effort and billions of dollars invested by the National Institute of Health (NIH), private foundations, and pharmaceutical companies in searching for injured, that is, mutated genes in cancer has produced few discoveries and little benefits to the public. The reason for this limited success is very simple. The genes in the tumors of most cancer patients are not injured, they are completely healthy.
Hunting for Genetic Mutations and Cancer
A little background:
1. What is a gene? A gene is a creature that produces a protein, like a football player who produces yards during games.
2. What are proteins? Proteins are the major building blocks of cells, yards in our example.
3. What is a mutated gene? A mutated gene is an injured player. Very rarely a mutation is beneficial to the organism (X-Men, Evolution, Lance Armstrong?). In all other cases, the mutation is damaging the gene. Think of the effect of a serious knee injury on our football player.
Current belief:
The current belief in medical research holds that most cancers are caused by exposure to carcinogens, and that carcinogens begin the cancer process by injuring certain genes. This belief is so ingrained that the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), an institute at the NIH, recently stated that "all cancers are based on genetic mutations in body cells." Moreover, a search on PubMed, the search engine for scientific papers in life science, with the keywords "Mutation" AND "cancer" produced 86,490 papers and 12,238 reviews. Mutation hunting is also a big business. Look at the NIH budget allocated to discoveries of genetic mutations, the number of biotech companies chasing genetic mutations, the magnitude of the licensing agreements between biotech and pharmaceutical companies aimed to utilize newly discovered genetic mutations, and the number of stories in the media on genetic mutations and their so-called "link" to disease. However, this huge effort and billions of dollars has produced few discoveries and little benefits to the public.
And the public starts to react to the continuing failure of the injured gene dogma. Examine the level of tax payers funds allocated to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) by Congress:
Until 2003, the public and their representatives believed in the promise of the injured gene dogma, and increased the NCI budget (note the green lines). But in 2003, the public and Congress lost faith and started to cut back. Look at the NCI budgets from 2004 to 2007, what a vote of no confidence in mainstream cancer research!
The reason for this limited success of the injured gene idea is simple. The cause of most cancers is not a mutated gene.
The story of the BRCA1 gene is a typical example of mutation hunting.
The Mystery of BRCA1
Genes, in general, produce proteins, which are the building blocks of cells. The concentration of proteins is tightly regulated. A mutated or injured gene produces an abnormal concentration of its protein, which may lead to disease. In 1994, Mark Skolnick, PhD, discovered the BRCA1 gene (BRCA1 is short for BReast CAncer 1). Following the discovery, scientists observed a low level of the BRCA1 protein in breast cancer tissues. This observation created a lot of excitement. At the time, scientists believed that they were on the verge of finding the cause of breast cancer. The reasoning was that breast cancer patients must have a mutated BRCA1 gene, which would explain the decreased production of the protein, and the development of tumors.
In the United States, 180,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year. However, the BRCA1 gene is mutated in less than 5% of these cases. In more than 95% of breast cancer patients the gene is not mutated, the gene is not injured, no scars, no limited motion, nothing.
So here is the mystery. If the gene is not mutated in the great majority of the breast cancer patients, why are the tumors showing low levels of the BRCA1 protein? The BRCA1 gene is not unique. Many normal (perfect shape, non-mutated) genes exhibit a mysteriou
The Mystery
The current belief in medical research holds that cancer begins with a genetic mutation, in simple terms: with injured genes. However, the huge effort and billions of dollars invested by the National Institute of Health (NIH), private foundations, and pharmaceutical companies in searching for injured, that is, mutated genes in cancer has produced few discoveries and little benefits to the public. The reason for this limited success is very simple. The genes in the tumors of most cancer patients are not injured, they are completely healthy.
Hunting for Genetic Mutations and Cancer
A little background:
1. What is a gene? A gene is a creature that produces a protein, like a football player who produces yards during games.
2. What are proteins? Proteins are the major building blocks of cells, yards in our example.
3. What is a mutated gene? A mutated gene is an injured player. Very rarely a mutation is beneficial to the organism (X-Men, Evolution, Lance Armstrong?). In all other cases, the mutation is damaging the gene. Think of the effect of a serious knee injury on our football player.
Current belief:
The current belief in medical research holds that most cancers are caused by exposure to carcinogens, and that carcinogens begin the cancer process by injuring certain genes. This belief is so ingrained that the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), an institute at the NIH, recently stated that "all cancers are based on genetic mutations in body cells." Moreover, a search on PubMed, the search engine for scientific papers in life science, with the keywords "Mutation" AND "cancer" produced 86,490 papers and 12,238 reviews. Mutation hunting is also a big business. Look at the NIH budget allocated to discoveries of genetic mutations, the number of biotech companies chasing genetic mutations, the magnitude of the licensing agreements between biotech and pharmaceutical companies aimed to utilize newly discovered genetic mutations, and the number of stories in the media on genetic mutations and their so-called "link" to disease. However, this huge effort and billions of dollars has produced few discoveries and little benefits to the public.
And the public starts to react to the continuing failure of the injured gene dogma. Examine the level of tax payers funds allocated to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) by Congress:
Until 2003, the public and their representatives believed in the promise of the injured gene dogma, and increased the NCI budget (note the green lines). But in 2003, the public and Congress lost faith and started to cut back. Look at the NCI budgets from 2004 to 2007, what a vote of no confidence in mainstream cancer research!
The reason for this limited success of the injured gene idea is simple. The cause of most cancers is not a mutated gene.
The story of the BRCA1 gene is a typical example of mutation hunting.
The Mystery of BRCA1
Genes, in general, produce proteins, which are the building blocks of cells. The concentration of proteins is tightly regulated. A mutated or injured gene produces an abnormal concentration of its protein, which may lead to disease. In 1994, Mark Skolnick, PhD, discovered the BRCA1 gene (BRCA1 is short for BReast CAncer 1). Following the discovery, scientists observed a low level of the BRCA1 protein in breast cancer tissues. This observation created a lot of excitement. At the time, scientists believed that they were on the verge of finding the cause of breast cancer. The reasoning was that breast cancer patients must have a mutated BRCA1 gene, which would explain the decreased production of the protein, and the development of tumors.
In the United States, 180,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year. However, the BRCA1 gene is mutated in less than 5% of these cases. In more than 95% of breast cancer patients the gene is not mutated, the gene is not injured, no scars, no limited motion, nothing.
So here is the mystery. If the gene is not mutated in the great majority of the breast cancer patients, why are the tumors showing low levels of the BRCA1 protein? The BRCA1 gene is not unique. Many normal (perfect shape, non-mutated) genes exhibit a mysteriou
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