Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover

Are these grotesque organisms the key to cure cancer? I believe they are. Some might say, “How in the world are these being going to help cure cancer?” After my brief explanation, people reading this will understand that they have the potential to fight our dreaded foe.

Since they are small in size, they should only live for a couple years, but they can live up to 28 years. This is possible because they have a unique mutation that controls mitosis almost perfectly. They have two genes that act as double protection, p16 and p27. Both of these are found in humans, but why are we not impervious to cancer? Our p16 gene is inactive so we do not have that unique double barrier protection against cancer. These two genes might be only the beginning of the story, but so far researches only found this to be the cause of their immunity.

As you can see here, the naked mole rat has an advantage of detecting uncontrolled proliferation. The p16 gene stops the uncontrolled mitosis earlier and therefore stops the cancer from even commencing its attack on their bodies. Without this gene, they would be susceptible to cancer just like other animals and us.

I believe this is the cornerstone in finding a way not only to cure, but prevent cancer indefinitely. We could use gene therapy to activate this p16 gene. If this is successful, people won’t have to live shortened lives due to chemotherapy, amputation, or cancer itself. This p16 gene is similar to vaccination, but the process of modifying genes is risky and unpredictable.

Currently, everything is still in its experimental stages. With scientists working around the clock on this new finding, we could expect the cure and prevention coming in our lifetime. As the research progress, I hope that more information will be found and not just the p16 gene will help prevent cancer.

If you have been reading my post, you can clearly see my opinion is very optimistic of the naked mole rats’ potential. The cure is only a fingers length away and we must work much harder to grasp this p16 gene. I do not doubt that these organisms can cure cancer, since anything is possible.

My Sources:

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-10/hideous-rodent-may-provide-cure-cancer

http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/10/gene-therapy-cures-congenital-blindness.html

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/10/27/what-can-we-learn-from-the-naked-mole-rats-immunity-to-cancer/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026152812.htm

http://www.viewzone.com/nakedrats.html

http://genomics.senescence.info/sequencing/index.html

I commented on:

Dylan Juschko
http://mwbioblogs.blogspot.com/2010/12/designer-babies-saving-people-or.html

Jeefchan Chandraseqar
http://jeefchan.blogspot.com/2010/12/medical-marvel-cosmetic-controversy.html