Oncogenes can cause cells to become malignant and can enter the body through mutations, viral transfection, or inherited genes. Proto-oncogenes can also mutate and become dangerous. Identifying oncogenes is important for cancer research and gene therapy may be a potential treatment.
An oncogene is a gene that has the ability to cause a cell to become malignant. There are several ways that an oncogene can enter the body, and these genes can also act in a variety of ways. Many oncogenes are cell division genes that have gone awry, but other types of genetic information can contribute to the development of malignancies, such as genes that regulate cell death. Oncogenes need to be turned on for malignancy to develop, meaning people can carry them without getting cancer. People with oncogenes are at increased risk of developing cancer and can be encouraged to take steps to control their risk.
Some oncogenes are inherited, as demonstrated by studies of cancers such as breast cancer. In this case, a mutation occurred at some point along a family line and the bad gene was passed on. When circumstances are right, the inherited gene can be activated, causing cancer to develop. Others are the result of mutations during fetal development or mutations that occur during cell division. The more cells that divide, the greater the risk of mutations; skin cancers, for example, have been linked to sun-damaged skin attempting to repair itself and sometimes becoming malignant.
It is also possible for some viruses to introduce harmful genetic material into the body through a process called viral transfection. Viruses are already designed to introduce new genetic material to further their agenda, and sometimes this material can be harmful. Cervical cancer, for example, is closely linked to infection with human papilloma virus, a virus that carries several known oncogenes.
People also have so-called proto-oncogenes. These are normal genes that have the potential to turn into oncogenic genes if they mutate. Proto-oncogenes are at risk of mutation through cell damage, viral transfection and chance. They can also become dangerous if they start overexpressing; when it comes to the body, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Identifying oncogenes is an important part of cancer research, as is determining how those genes behave in the body and studying the circumstances under which oncogenes can form and what makes them active. In theory, it may be possible to treat some cancers with gene therapy that switches off these dangerous genes and keeps them switched off, so they cannot start expressing themselves and cause a malignant tumor to develop.
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