HSS 2305 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Tumor Suppressor Gene, Broccoli, Aneuploidy
8 Oct 2018
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Document Summary
Genetic disease because it can be traced to alterations within specific genes, but in most cases, not inherited. Genetic defect is present on the chromosome of a parents and is transmitted to the zygote. Genetic alterations that lead to most cancers arise in the dna of a somatic cell during the lifetime of the affected individual. Genetic changes cause cancer cells to become free from the restraints of normal cells. Normal cells don"t divide unless stimulated by homeostatic mechanisms, they don"t survive if they have irreparable damage, and they cant wander away from the tissue to start a colony elsewhere in the body. Cancer cells experience a breakdown of their regulatory functions, they multiply uncontrollably, and can wander away producing a tumor that invades surrounding tissue. As long as the growth of a tumor remains localized, the disease can be treated and cured by surgical removal.
