My Introduction To Cancer Biology
Hey gang, back at it with another blog. I just wanted to share that over the past year, my interest in cancer biology has been growing. Recently, my neighbor lost her battle against metastatic breast cancer, which deeply impacted me and led me to dive deeper into understanding cancer - its causes and effects, what’s about it so difficult to cure or prevent.
During my research, I came across a YouTube interview of Dr. Thomas Seyfried from Boston College. If any of you are interested, you can check out his research paper or watch this YouTube video https://youtu.be/VaVC3PAWqLk?si=7I0azLBBwxcZ4Ajm where he discusses the ever-growing prevalence of cancer. It is estimated that new cancer cases could rise to 35 million every year by 2050, which very frightening. Dr. Seyfried has challenged the traditional view that cancer is primarily a genetic disorder. Instead, he suggests that cancer is fundamentally a mitochondrial disease, meaning it arises from disruptions in cellular energy production rather than just genetic mutations.
I learned a lot from this research, often finding myself scratching my head while trying to grasp new concepts and terminology. Wanting a solid introduction to the subject, I started looking for beginner-friendly courses. Bellevue College offers an Introduction to Cancer Biology course, but it wasn’t ideal for someone my age and grade. However, I was determined to learn more, so I found an introductory course offered by Johns Hopkins.
It took me about three weekends to complete, and I must say, it was a great primer. The course covered key topics such as the definition and types of cancer, the cellular hallmarks of cancer, different imaging techniques used in oncology, and, most fascinating to me—the real killer: metastasis.
