Is cancer genetic or is it environmental? If its both, how much is it of one or the other?
Would you expect to find common genetic mechanisms involved in developmental processes and cancers? Why or why not? Explain.
The Process of incurring a genetic Mutation (like the one that is occurring in one of your cells as you read this!) and developing a cancerous tumor is a complex process involving many changes at the molecular and physiological level. Why do mutations in any of the various mutator genes increase the likelihood of a cell becoming cancerous?
Explain the relationship between the cell cycle and cancer. Include in your discussion why it is not surprising to find a mutated retinoblastoma (Rb) gene in a cancerous cell.
Since proto-oncogenes represent distinct liabilities for an organism, in that they incite cancer, why have these genes not been eliminated from the genomes of multi-cellular organisms.
5 references
