What Is Cancer?

1. How is a cancer cell different than a normal cell?
2. How has cancer treatment evolved as scientists have learned more about cancer?
3. What steps can an individual take to prevent cancer?
4. Why has it been so difficult to find a cure for cancer?
5. What does Richard Klausner mean when he says cancer is like evolution in a bottle?

1. A cancer cell is different from a normal cell because of it's ability to be constantly transforming and mutating to become more and more immune to the drugs that you are trying to use to treat it. It mutates much more than a normal cell.

2. Cancer treatment has evolved as they learn more because as we begin to figure out how a cancer cell tends to mutate, we have learned how to better plan ahead and know the cells next move so that we can find it's weaknesses and ultimately kill it.

3. There are obvious things that an individual can do to prevent cancer: don't smoke, drink in moderation, wear sunscreen, don't be exposed to radiation. But ultimately there is nothing that anybody can do to be completely immune to cancer because we don't know what causes 40% of cases of cancer.

4. It has been so difficult to find a treatment for cancer because the cell is constantly mutating and evolving. It is nearly impossible to treat something that is always rejecting what you are trying to use.

5. When he says that a cancer cell is like evolution in a bottle he means that there have been so many evolution in the world that have made it into what it is. Imagine all of those evolution in one compact space all happening at the same time. Now imagine that for eternity. That is what a cancer cell is like. That's what he is trying to say.

I am happy that we covered such a pressing topic in today's world and I look forward to learning more about cancer in the future.

Cytoplasmic Streaming

First off, here is a link to a video that shows the chloroplasts moving inside of the elodea leaf cells.

Cytoplasmic Streaming

Additionally, here is a micrograph from when we looked at the elodea leaf cells on Tuesday.

What components of the cell theory were visible in the leaf?

          The part of the cell theory that you can really see in the video and the micrograph is that, as it states on page 156 of BSCS Biology: A Molecular Approach Ninth Edition, "Cells or products made by the cells, are the units of structure and function in organisms."
          When I first looked into our microscope and saw these images, I could not help but be astounded by how each cell fits together perfectly, creating the stability and structure that most plants have. It was super easy to see this due to the visible cell walls that set themselves apart by being extremely obvious to see.
          Something else that really stands out to me when I look at an image of these cells is how easy it is to hypothesize that the cells are filled with liquid (cytosol). I can tell that there is liquid inside of the cell because it is super easy for the chloroplasts to move and transport themselves from one spot to another.
          Finally, the last big thing that is easy to tell by looking at these images is that there is a central vacuole. We can tell that there is one in each of the cells because it is easy to notice that there are no chloroplasts in the middle of the cell. Instead they are pushed to the edges and are restricted to only moving near the cell wall.
          In conclusion, we can really learn a lot about cells by simply looking at them with a microscope and I look forward to being able to look further into cells.