Ancestral dormant genes could be driving cancer
21 May 2021
Despite decades of research, cancer remains an enigma.
Conventional wisdom holds that cancer is driven by random mutations that create aberrant cells that run amok in the body.
In a new paper published this week in the journal
BioEssays, researchers from The Australian National University and Arizona State University challenge this model.
Instead, they argue cancer is a type of genetic throwback that progresses via a series of reversions to ancestral forms of life.
In contrast with the conventional model, the researchers say the distinctive capabilities of cancer cells are not primarily generated by mutations but are pre-existent and lie dormant in normal cells.
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In spite of decades of research, cancer remains an enigma. Conventional wisdom holds that cancer is driven by random mutations that create aberrant cells that run amok in the body. In a new paper published this week in the journal BioEssays, Arizona and Australian researchers challenge this model by proposing that cancer is a type of genetic throwback, that progresses via a series of reversions to ancestral forms of life.