Good Gone Bad

As they go about their day-to-day business keeping our bodies running smoothly, every cell harbours a latent capacity to snap out of their well-behaved routine and go rogue. When a gene that can normally be relied upon to carry out essential bodily functions is mutated or corrupted, it can transform a harmless cell into the seed of cancer. The traitorous genes, known as oncogenes, interrupt the mechanisms that usually maintain good cell behaviour, and lead to an uncontrolled explosion of growth. That oncogenes stem from vulnerable genes within the genomes of us all – known as proto-oncogenes – has revolutionised the way we view cancer. Made in part by Harold Varmus – born on this day in 1939 – this discovery altered the course of cancer research. His research exposing the cancerous monster to be just a distorted version of our normal selves earned him the 1989 Nobel Prize.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image in the public domain, courtesy of NCI Visuals Online, NIH, USA