Eureka! At long last, the fountain of youth. Never again will people line up outside cosmetology clinics for the newest cream guaranteed to reduce wrinkles or your money back. Now, take a simple trip to the doctor for an injection or a series of pills (whichever you prefer) and your young adult days last well into your 80s. The secret ingredient: cancer.
Luis
you got some splainin' to do.
As an undergrad studying both chemical and biomedical engineering, I will soon begin my journey toward one of the most controversial and innovative areas of research. My specialty is cancer. More specifically, I'm starting my trek toward a world full of proteins and enzymes in the field of cell adhesion.
Being a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed engineer, I am still far from probing my test tube in the intricate molecular complex of cancer studies. Yet, researchers at colleges and companies around the world are racing toward the cure. And with the cure comes eternal life.
For those who have not taken biology since high school, DNA is literally the building block of life. It encodes for all the proteins in our everyday processes: from breathing to thinking and everything in between. During replication, DNA splits to create an exact copy so the genetic material can pass to the next cell.
One important component during this process is the telomerase enzyme. Telomerase uses a strand of RNA as a template to form new, single strands of DNA to zip into the existing DNA while it splits. Therefore, the ability for telomerase to create exact replicas of DNA is astronomically important. Without it, there would be mutations and DNA deletion, which would create all sorts of problems in the cell and eventually, in our bodies.
Telomerase's potential to reduce aging comes from one of its functions on DNA.
Telomeres, which are found on the end of the double helix DNA strands, cap DNA at the end of chromosomes to protect them from deterioration. After each replication, they shorten by a certain amount.
To help sort this out, picture telomerase as the engine of your car. As you drive farther and farther down the road of life, your engine starts to wear down. Whether you drive at, below or sheepishly five miles above the speed limit, your car eventually breaks down. When this happens is different for everyone depending on use, oil changes and maintenance.
But now, envision a never-ending engine. That forever-engine is the driving force behind cancer, and the key to everlasting life.
In cancer cells, telomerase never shortens, never wears down and never stops reproducing. Cancer lives forever; always growing, feeding on your body and not stopping until it consumes whatever your persona has to offer. Cancer does not wear down like the rest of your body. In this sick twist of cruel fate lies the answer to life everlasting.
Studies done by Dr. William Bonner, leader of the Genome Integrity Group in the Center for Cancer Research's Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, show this relationship to be true. The group is well on its way to providing methods to stop the eternal engine.
If you crack the code to terminate the eternal cancer cell, theoretically there is nothing preventing you from finding the solution to making any cell forever young.
The research being done for this phenomenon is far from being perfected, due to heavy regulation by the FDA. And more importantly, the moral dilemmas behind this make even the most respected and well-rounded scientists shudder.
A person living forever seems like a bad dream. Would you be one of the first to line up if eternal youth were found in the not-too-distant future? It absolutely would not be something I want to be part of. Whether that has something to do with my religion or the funny feeling I get in my gut when writing this column, eternal life is not for me.
As a man of morals, the mere thought is horrid and disturbing. As an engineer, this case is the most interesting breakthrough in the world.
Luis Delgadillo is a sophomore studying chemical engineering and columnist for The Post. Send him your moral
dilemmas at ld199907@ohiou.edu. 4
Opinion
Luis Delgadillo
