The human race has met its demise by means of violence, accidents and a variety of infectious diseases. In 1900, the main causes of death were pneumonia, influenza and tuberculosis. Today, they are heart disease and cancer.
Modern medicines such as antibiotics and vaccines have lowered the mortality of the microbial illnesses, which spread fear in previous generations. In spite of this, we still all die of something. We are now faced with a large number of disorders characterised by the uncontrolled growth of cells.
Almost 50 years since the war on cancer was declared, malignant tumours are still attributable to around 15 per cent of deaths worldwide. The number of those who die from cancer varies greatly around the world, often because of differences in behaviour and healthcare.
Early detection and novel treatments have produced results and in the developed world 50 per cent of cancer patients are ‘cured’. Despite continuous research efforts, it remains a stubborn disease to eradicate. The present toll will almost certainly increase in the coming decades, especially as developing countries adopt Western diets and lifestyles.
Scientists are currently battling against cancer by tailoring the treatment to individual and evolving tumours (personalised therapy), precisely delivering medicines to the target with the help of nanodevices and grouping patients according to their molecular characteristics during clinical studies for better and faster drug approval decisions.
Cancer research is producing gigabytes of data, which are yielding fresh insights into the disease after bioinformaticians figured out ways to manage the information.
This is achieved by studying DNA sequences that can provide powerful tools against cancer once the right clinical information to define appropriate subtypes is readily available.
Future potential therapies may lie in the naked mole rat, a subterranean animal which has been extensively studied for being cancer-proof. Additionally, this species is providing promising clues on how the disease in humans might be prevented although one has to also take into consideration the notable environmental factor. Chemicals that cause cancer are all around us, so scientists are broadening their ideas of environmental risk.
Even as scientists begin to solve the cancer puzzle and therapies improve, basic questions about the role of normal tissue, tumour spread and drug resistance remain three fundamental mysteries which are proving tough to crack.
Did you know…
• Water expands by about nine per cent as it freezes.
• The human body is full of friendly bacteria, with organisms on our skin and in our guts helping keep our bodies humming. Breast milk alone can have up to 700 species of bacteria.
• The adult skeleton has 206 bones. The smallest is the stapes or stirrup, the innermost of three bones in the middle ear; the femur (thighbone) is the longest and strongest, and the tibia in the lower leg is the second largest in the human skeleton.
• Shaving does not cause terminal hair to grow back thicker or coarser or darker. This belief is due to hair which has never been cut having a tapered end, whereas after cutting, the edge is blunt and therefore wider than the tapered ends; the cut hair appears to be thicker and feels coarser due to the sharper, unworn edges. The shorter hairs being “harder” (less flexible) than longer hairs also contributes to this effect.
For more trivia: www.um.edu.mt/think
Fact bites
• A series of experiments showed that sudden insight may yield more correct solutions than using gradual, methodical thinking. In other words, say the researchers, it’s absolutely worth listening to your “Eureka!” moments. (Research: Drexel University)
• Researchers have developed a new way of growing realistic human tissues outside the body. Their ‘person-on-a-chip’ technology, called AngioChip, is a powerful platform for discovering and testing new drugs, and could eventually be used to repair or replace damaged organs. (Research: University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering).
• Computers are able to read a person’s body language to tell whether they are bored or interested in what they see on the screen. The research shows that by measuring a person’s movements as they use a computer, it is possible to judge their level of interest by monitoring whether they display the tiny movements that people usually constantly exhibit, known as non-instrumental movements. (Research: University of Sussex)
Source: www.sciencedaily.com/