Naked Mole Rats Immune to Cancer
There has never been a documented case of cancer found in a Naked Mole Rat, which is unusual as they can live to be 30 years old. Now biologists at the Unversity of Rochester believe they have found the reason.
The findings, presented in today’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that the mole rat’s cells express a gene called p16 that makes the cells “claustrophobic,” stopping the cells’ proliferation when too many of them crowd together, cutting off runaway growth before it can start. The effect of p16 is so pronounced that when researchers mutated the cells to induce a tumor, the cells’ growth barely changed, whereas regular mouse cells became fully cancerous.
“We think we’ve found the reason these mole rats don’t get cancer, and it’s a bit of a surprise,” say Vera Gorbunova and Andrei Seluanov, professors of biology at the University of Rochester and lead investigators on the discovery. “It’s very early to speculate about the implications, but if the effect of p16 can be simulated in humans we might have a way to halt cancer before it starts.”
Further research might reveal whether the findings will be applicable to humans. Link -via reddit
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This Mechanical Tumor is a Computer Peripheral
Photo: Mio I-zawa
Japanese artist Mio I-zawa created this mechanical tumor that grows and throbs as your computer operates. The harder your computer works, the larger it grows. From the blog Pink Tentacle:
Equipped with a series of motors and pneumatic actuators, the mechanical tumor pulsates gently when the CPU load is low. When the CPU load is high, the tumor’s air compressor is activated, causing the lump of flesh to inflate. The size of the tumor fluctuates according to the CPU utilization rate, giving the user a very tangible reading of the computer’s stress level.
Video at the link.
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Tumor Angiogenesis Explained in Plain English
One of the way scientists try to combat cancer is to selectively disrupt angiogenesis, the process by which blood vessels form to support the growth of the tumor cells.
Biotech company Amgen launched a spiffy new website with 15 gorgeously rendered animations explaining the process of angiogenesis as it relates to vascularized tumor in plain English.
You don’t have to be a molecular biologist to appreciate the "Fantastic Voyage"-like animations – and you may learn something cool about cancer biology!
Not to be missed: Link – via Wired Science
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It's Not a Tumah! It's a Tree!
Doctors operating on 28-year-old Artyom Sidorkin was expecting to find a tumor in one of his lungs, but they got a big, green surprise during the surgery:
Doctors x-rayed his chest and found a tumor in one of the lungs. Suspecting cancer, they made a decision to perform biopsy, but when they cut the tissue, they were amazed to see green needles in the cut.
“I blinked three times, and thought I was seeing things. Then I called the assistant to have a look,” says Vladimir Kamashev, doctor at the Udmurtian Cancer Center.
The five-centimeter branch was removed from the patient’s body. [...]
It is obvious that a five-centimeter branch is too large to be inhaled or swallowed, doctors say. They suggest that the patient might have inhaled a small bud, which then started to grow inside his body.
Link (Photo: Komsomolskaya Pravda)
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It's Not a Tumah! It's a Foot!
Dr. Paul Grabb thought he was removing a benign tumor from a newborn’s brain. Instead, he found a tiny foot:
Grabb said he could not tell whether the miniature limbs were from a benign stem cell tumor called a teratoma or the remnants of an identical twin that did not split off and survive, a condition called fetus in fetu.
"It looked like the breach delivery of a baby, coming out of the brain," Grabb told The Associated Press. "To find a perfectly formed structure is extremely unique, unusual, borderline unheard of."
Previously on Neatorama: Fetus in Fetu: the Male Pregnancy
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