Cancer - Answers
page 37
14: Without enough information, the cancerous daughter cells will not be able to perform
the functions needed to keep the cell alive. If they have too much information, the
instructions may conflict or disagree with each other and again the cell will not be able to
perform the necessary functions to stay alive.
17: By applying sunscreen and blocking UV radiation, you are blocking one of the known
causes of mutations that can lead to cancer.
19: The sample from the 85 year old would probably not show many cells in the various
pahses of mitosis. In the 5 year old, there would be many cells in mitosis (since the boy is
growing). In the skin cancer a very large fraction of the cells would be in various stages of
mitosis.
a) Why are cancer cells so dangerous to the health of an organism?
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they use nutrients that other cells need and since there are a lot of cancer cells, this
cause other cells to starve and die.
since they spend most of their time in mitosis, they do not perform whatever function
they are supposed to be doing. Tis makes it harder for the organism to function
properly (for example, cancer in white blood cells means they won’t be able to attack
diseases)
b) Although it might seem like a good idea, why would it be bad to have rapid,
uncontrolled division of brain cells?
The rapid, uncontrolled division of brain cells (i.e. cancer) would kill off healthy brain
cells by starving them of their nutrients.
c) How has mutation been beneficial to the human species?
Mutation of human DNA has allowed our species to evolve (mutations that help
organisms survive are passed on to future generations)
d) Draw a diagram to illustrate the rapid increase in numbers of cancerous cells as
compared to normal cells.
See diagram 1.34 on page34
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