Hallmarks of Cancer

These are the hallmarks of cancer.

1. Increased activity of oncogenes.
2. Decreased activity of tumor suppressor genes.
3. Defect in apoptosis mechanism.
4. Uncontrolled cell proliferation (like due to Alternate Lengthening of Telomere etc.)
5. Growth of blood vessels - Angeogenesis (drugs like Avastin target this).
6. Tumor invasion and metastasis. 

Will the Water Flow Into the Garden?

Standing on a small hill

I see falls, rivers and lakes,

like the continuous flow of logic

that we see in the formal sciences

On the other side of the hill

I see flowers and beautiful flora -

the grandeur of the biological world

that leaves me with a question,

will the water flow into the garden?

Book Recommendation

Just finished reading this Pulitzer prize winning book - The Emperor of All Maladies. This is a biography about the dreaded disease cancer. Siddhartha Mukherjee is just amazing in his flow. For one continuous week, got hooked to it. 

Major criticism with this book:
Of late, epigenetic phenomena such as CpG island methylation has been implicated in cancer, especially in brain tumors. Chromatin remodeling and mutations in histones (for instance, H3.3 point mutations in pediatric glioma) are being reported. Although, some of these are current discoveries, the role of epigenetics in cancer was thought about at least 3-4 years back. Siddhartha who traces cancer biography till June 2010 has not mentioned a word about these findings. Agreed that cancer is a genetic disease, but the role of these phenomena cannot be undermined.