Question

Write a letter to explain why cancer has not been cured yet to a nonscience person. It should not be more than 1 page. You are writing the letter to the person described in the next paragraph.

Based on the patterns (or lack of patterns) that you found regarding cancer when you did the lab, explain to my mom (a 70 year old woman who went to college in the 1960s and gets all of her news from the Today show and the newspaper) the challenges of dealing with cancer.

In your explanation, describe mitosis (you may choose to explain it using other terms appropriate for a non-biologist, but the concept must be accurate), mutation (in terms she will understand), and the diversity of issues within a single patient as well as across patients.

Answer 1

Dear mom,

I am writing to explain to you why despite the recent advancements is science, whu cancer has not been cured.

There are man underlying reasons as to why cancer happens to an individual. Our body is made of tiny cells, which combine to form the different organs, and the cells of specialised to perform different functions inside the body.. Now in order for the body to continue living, the cells must divide to form new cells. This division process is highly regulated, as any problems in the process can lead to cancer(it results from the unrestricted growth of the cells, which can form tumours). The process by which cells of the body divide s called as mitosis. Here, one cell gives rise to two new, identical cells. In order to divide, the cell must prepare itself, by accumulating and generating all required materials necessary for the division. The DNA (which carries our blueprint) must duplicate, and then, the cell undergoes division, forming to new cells identical to itself. The DNA duplication process is a critical step. The cell cannot afford to introduce any changes to the blueprint right!, it can have consequences. In cancer, this is indeed one of the steps that goes haywire, and certain changes are introduced into the blueprint. The changes can be of several different types. Now, there are portions of DNA , that are responsible for transmitting information to the next generation, and are called as genes. There are certain genes that have to kept inactivated (their activation can lead to cancer) , there are certain genes need to remain active(their inactivation can lead to cancer). There are also certain genes, in which changes (these changes are called mutations), which can dysregulate the cell division process, and can thus cause cancer.

The main problem with finding a cure to cancer is that the underlying reason for the cause of cancer varies patient to patient and also from one type of cancer to another, and I have listed only a few of the many possible reasons that can cause cancer. These hetrogeniety of the underlying cause makes it very difficult to find a cure for cancer.

I hope I was able to explain myself to you.

Love,

XYZ