Cancer Cells Free Essay Example, 2500 words

299-300). For humans, mitosis takes place in 1016 magnitude. For smaller organisms such as mice, cells divide at 1012 times per lifetime (Gilbert, 2003, p. 143). Many cells, however, undergo cell death even before the organism dies, so that the resulting developed organism can have the right number and types of cells at the right places around and within the body. For example, the cells making up the tissues between our digits had died even before we were born to give us five fingers on each hand. Other results of programmed cell death include the space at our middle ear where sound waves reverberate, and the orientation and proper spacing of neurons that transmit signals to and from the brain (Gilbert, 2003, p. 143). Indeed, on the molecular level, one of the most glaring evidences of development, even for cells that are destined to die earlier than the organism, is the transcription of genes that were not transcribed before, and expression of proteins that were not produced before. Cancer Kills Proteins are one of the pillars of a cell, and are the most diverse class of biomolecules. We will write a custom essay sample on Cancer Cells or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now They are on the forefront of cell physiology. They can be structural, such as collagen and elastin, metabolic and catabolic, such as phosphatases and kinases, and can be a mode of transport, such as aquaporins. Some proteins can act as signal transducers that instruct a cell how to behave, when to divide, when to develop, or when to self-destruct. For normal cells, there are no problems coming up with the right combination of molecules needed for cell death or differentiation. It is logical to think that the problem with cancer cells is that they could not produce the proteins that will trigger the cascade of events leading to cell death and differentiation. Thus, it is the hypothesis of this review that â€Å"Mutations on genes encoding proteins that are the backbone of physiological processes underlying cell apoptosis and regulation of cell division causes cancer. † It is most likely that, for cancer cells, mutations in certain genes coding for a protein essential to stop cell division and promote cell death prevents the cell from producing that protein, and from stopping the abnormal cells to divide. That may sound harmless at first, but upon realizing that more often than not normal cells are around perpetually dividing cells, that normal cells do not divide in proportion to these abnormal cells, and that, because the cancer cells are alive and recognized by the body as a part just like any other, which needs to take in nutrients, a part of blood will be redirected to the area of cancer cells.