11.25.06
Epigenetics May Hold Promise for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
A recent article in The New Zealand Herald reports on research investigating the cause of a common childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Dr. Ian Morison, curator of the Imprinted Gene and Parent-of-origin Effects Database at Otago University, “is trying to pinpoint the exact period between conception and birth when leukaemic cells start to develop, and to better understand what genetic factors make that happen.” Dr. Morison is attempting to pin down why rates of leukemia have increased in recent years.
- “There seems to be something about modern life, but that doesn’t mean it’s cellphone towers - it could equally be the nutrition of the mum. It could be any one of a thousand factors we hadn’t thought of.”
Epigenetics is a promising new area of interest.
Traditionally, cancers were thought to be caused by gene mutations.
“A mutation can affect just a single letter of DNA and disrupt a very important gene that puts brakes on a cell, controlling the cell’s growth,” said Dr Morison. “It’s like if a cable breaks on the handbrake of a car.”
Otago’s Cancer Genetics Laboratory is looking at epigenetic changes, which modify cell function without mutation taking place.
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