The cancer process
by Lennart Möller
Introduction
01 Cancer
02 Ozone
03 Urban air
04 Air pollutants
05 Blue-green algae
06 Water mutagens
07 Contamination
08 Chernobyl
09 Radon
10 Medical geology
11 Renal hazards
12 Organohalogens
13 Estrogens
14 Food hazards
15 Mycotoxins
16 Poisoning
17 Genetics
18 Risk
(Excerpt from Chapter 1)
Although our human bodies consist of some 5x1013 cells a single cell, such as the egg, can be very big. The photograph shows a hen egg (approx. 5 cm) and an ostrich egg (approx 25 cm). |
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One Single cell
All living organisms are constructed of cells. A cell can be very small, for instance a cell from bacteria is 1/1000 mm. But cells can also be very big. Every egg from man, fish or bird is one single cell. These cells vary widely in size from the human egg cell, which is not visible to the eye, to egg cells from fish, which are easy to see. Egg cells can vary in size from a fraction of a mm to several mm in diameter. Egg cells from birds are much bigger. A hen egg is approximately 5 cm in length while the ostrich egg can be as much as 20-25 cm in length. Although large, eggs from birds are still only one single cell.
During conception there are two important events that mark the starting point for the development of a human being: the combination of DNA and the initiation of growth. The egg cell has half of the DNA and the sperm the other half. After the passage of the sperm through the wall of the egg cell the DNA is paired. Pairing involves both random and predictable components. Random pairing can be seen in the children of a family. They all look and behave differently but they also have a number of similarities. For certain genes, we can predict the outcome from a statistical point of view. This prediction might say that there is a 25% risk of a child developing a certain disease related to the function of one specific gene. With full knowledge of all genes and their functions we could, theoretically, probably predict the outcome of each function. Due to the huge number of genes (60,000-80,000), the enormous number of combinations and very limited knowledge about the function of different genes, however, this is not possible.
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Lennart Möller has a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences (1988) at Karolinska Institutet Stockholm, Sweden, and is Professor in Environmental Medicine (2001). He is group leader for the Laboratory of Analytical Toxicology (1989-) and deputy executive director of the Center for Nutrition and Toxicology (1989-) at Karolinska Institutet. His current research focuses on DNA lesions induced by factors in the environment and oxidative stress. The research involves development of analytical methods, pre-clinical and clinical applications and drug development. Karolinska Institutet is the Medical University of Stockholm.
