Without disease, we would not be as evolved as we are today. Throughout evolution’s progress, humankind have encountered many devastating or life-altering diseases. In 2007, Dr. Sharon Moalem published Survival of the Sickest in which he explored the theory that certain diseases actually helped us as a species in the long run. Using eight case studies, Dr. Moalem set forth the benefits of disease and their contribution to new medical research. Three of these case studies are selected here: diabetes, hemochromatosis and progeria.
In a healthy body, carbohydrates are broken down into glucose which is necessary to survive. Glucose is blood sugar and is used in more than one way throughout the body, for example providing fuel for the brain, …show more content…
The Hayflick limit works because of the telomeres. As soon as the telomeres run out, a cell is stopped. But with telomerase, cancer cells can add on to telomeres repeatedly, meaning the telomeres don’t run out. Telomeres are replenished so quickly that the Hayflick limit never has the chance to start, the cell’s DNA is protected by an everlasting set of telomeres.
Scientists are working to finish a test that will immediately trace any signs of increased telomerase activity. This will lead to cancerous cells being discovered more quickly.
Survival of the Sickest gave me a different perspective on inheritance and taught me that disease and life did go hand in hand as I had previously known, however they were directly linked in so many way that I had never learnt. For example, DNA. Learning that around a third of our DNA is from viruses was incredibly interesting. Not only that but every cell in our body uses bacteria to harvest energy.
With this information, I believe that it would be interesting to research whether bacteria or viruses affect our cognitive skills. If bacteria can power our cells, why couldn’t they power parts of our brain? If viruses can edit our DNA, why couldn’t they edit our
In a healthy body, carbohydrates are broken down into glucose which is necessary to survive. Glucose is blood sugar and is used in more than one way throughout the body, for example providing fuel for the brain, …show more content…
The Hayflick limit works because of the telomeres. As soon as the telomeres run out, a cell is stopped. But with telomerase, cancer cells can add on to telomeres repeatedly, meaning the telomeres don’t run out. Telomeres are replenished so quickly that the Hayflick limit never has the chance to start, the cell’s DNA is protected by an everlasting set of telomeres.
Scientists are working to finish a test that will immediately trace any signs of increased telomerase activity. This will lead to cancerous cells being discovered more quickly.
Survival of the Sickest gave me a different perspective on inheritance and taught me that disease and life did go hand in hand as I had previously known, however they were directly linked in so many way that I had never learnt. For example, DNA. Learning that around a third of our DNA is from viruses was incredibly interesting. Not only that but every cell in our body uses bacteria to harvest energy.
With this information, I believe that it would be interesting to research whether bacteria or viruses affect our cognitive skills. If bacteria can power our cells, why couldn’t they power parts of our brain? If viruses can edit our DNA, why couldn’t they edit our