In Lung Cancer, Silencing One Crucial Gene Disrupts Normal Functioning Of Genome

Lung cancer explained. How did we ever get sucked in? Just supports Einstein's claim that our stupidity is infinite. I blame the suicide gene and my own stupidity. At least I didn't get wiped out cutting whiskers off a lion

clipped from www.sciencedaily.com While examining patterns of DNA modification in lung cancer, a team of international researchers has discovered what they say is a surprising new mechanism. They say that "silencing" of a single gene in lung cancer led to a general impairment in genome-wide changes in cells, contributing to cancer development and progression they also report finding a strong link between modification of the key gene, MTHFR, and tobacco use by lung cancer patients – even if the patient had smoked for a short period of time The findings reinforce tobacco's link to lung cancer development, but show that deactivating one specific gene through a process known as hypermethylation causes systemic dysfunction, or hypomethylation, in many genes, said the study's senior investigator, Zdenko Herceg, Ph.D., head of the Epigenetics Group at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). We found that tobacco-mediated hypermethylation of MTHFR, and consequent partial or complete silencing of the gene cancer