4 ms·
Very interesting read... it boggles my mind how complex our organisms are and how cancer forms and takes everything over from the inside. We can't even "cure"
by jakeonthemove 15y ago
Very interesting read... it boggles my mind how complex our organisms are and how cancer forms and takes everything over from the inside.
We can't even "cure" a relatively simple virus like the cold or influenza, and cancer is like 10,000x times more complicated - gotta respect all the hackers who're working in the medical field...
- Peaker 15y agoViruses and bacteria evolve much faster than cancer, because they: * Use horizontal genetic exchange, so different evolutionary branches can share features. This increases evolutionary speed exponentially. * Evolve over a much larger eco-system, whereas cancer has to evolve "from scratch" in each individual over a relatively short time-span. Thus, I think cancer should be a much easier problem, from the evolutionary perspective, than bacteria and viruses.
- bradley 15y agoI had more appreciation for the complexity of the human organism after reading this NYTimes article about our microbiome: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13micro.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13micro.html?_r=1&... 10 times more microbial than 'human' DNA in our body.