New Links Found Between Bacteria and Cancer 159
Shipud writes "A recent study by a group at the University of Maryland School of Medicine shows that bacterial DNA gets transferred to human cells, in a process known as lateral gene transfer, or LGT. LGT is known to occur quite commonly between bacteria, including bacteria of different species. In fact, that is how antibiotic resistance is transferred so quickly. The team has shown that certain types of tumor cells acquire bacterial DNA that may play a role in tumor progression. Another group at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill has shown that gut inflammation leads to a radical change in the microbial population there, which encourages growth of E. coli that can disrupt the inflamed cells' DNA, leading to cancer. Both studies enable us to ask new questions such as: how does inflammation change the landscape for bacterial colonization? Can bacteria indeed harness inflammation — and then cancer — to flourish and remove competitors from their newly found ecosystem? And can we use this information to fight cancer?"
the republicans were right all along (Score:3, Funny)
I always knew the gays were behind cancer.... LesbianGayTransgender=LGT...... the republicans were right all along
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its LGBT - you left out the bacon
I think I may need new glasses (Score:2, Funny)
At first, I thought the title was "New Linux Found Between Bacteria and Cancer".
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LGT is known to occur quite commonly between bacteria, including bacteria of different species. In fact, that is how antibiotic resistance is transferred so quickly.
But I guess that Linus still thinks he invented DVCS with e-mail patches before the bacteria did. Good luck for him that their patent on that has already expired.
Also notice that for the bacteria people, it's all about the kernel. Or nucleus, whatever.
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Duuuh! Bacteria don't use Linux, they run something with a microkernel archetecture.
lateral transfer / evolution (Score:4, Interesting)
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The genes for resistance still have to be evolved by some bacterium. The gene transfer just helps with spreading those genes far and wide.
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Perhaps because the classic evolution model typically involves vertical transfer?
But, of course, the selection process continues to work very well, so you're right from that perspective.
"HGT has been shown to be an important factor in the evolution of many organisms." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_gene_transfer [wikipedia.org]
There's a lot of lateral gene transfer in humans, as well(just ask your parents, though sometimes they weren't strictly lateral at the time); bacteria just make it more obvious because gene transfer/recombination and reproduction are more or less wholly separate processes, while mammals and such combine gene transfer and reproduction into a single operation.
Re:lateral transfer / evolution (Score:5, Informative)
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That's interesting. So maybe if a woman has children from two men, the second child may end up having some DNA from the father of the first, passed through the mother.
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In classic models of natural selection, a gene comes into existence through mutation, and then spreads widely because it is subject to natural selection. The time it takes to spread widely depends on how long a generation is for the organism, and how much of an advantage the gene confers over its alternates. Lateral transfer lets a gene spread widely regardless of how much of an advantage it confers (or doesn't). In the long run, it will be natural selection that determines if the gene really confers an adv
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At a molecular level, DNA is a replicating molecule. It just so happens, that if you replicate something an
Re:lateral transfer / evolution (Score:4, Informative)
It's still evolution. It's change in response to the environment. LGT (Lateral Gene Transfer) is a Big Deal in the bacterial world - it evolved. You can amplify the effect by causing a selection pressure (ie, put an antibiotic in the flask). But, you can also have de novo point mutations that cause antibiotic resistance - that's done thousands, if not millions of times a day all over the planet. The clever little protists have figured out an even more efficient way to do things.
That's certainly evolution in action.
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Why can't the knowledge be passed on? Memes instead of genes.
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Oh, thanks. I've just learned something. I have used resistance to antibiotics as an example of real-time observable evolution. If it is actually lateral transfer, then this example won't hold. Good to know!
Lateral transfer is, arguably, just an example of the fact that 'evolution' isn't merely something that happens to individuals. In the case of bacteria, a novel mutation can increase in prevalence either through reproduction by the organism carrying it, or by transfer to other bacteria. Just because nothing makes a complex system more fun than adding more variables(and/or nature hates biologists), both the bacterial population and the distribution/makeup of the laterally-transferrable DNA sequences floating
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Oh, thanks. I've just learned something. I have used resistance to antibiotics as an example of real-time observable evolution. If it is actually lateral transfer, then this example won't hold. Good to know!
Didn't it have to evolve before it could be laterally transferred?
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Inflamation - What gives? (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't have any proper medical education, so can someone tell me why so much of modern medicine involves controlling or preventing inflammation? It seems to cause or contribute a lot of dangerous conditions.
What is the natural biological benefit (Why did we evolve it?) that inflammation is supposed to achieve?
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Re:Inflamation - What gives? (Score:5, Informative)
It's been a while since "Human Infectious Diseases"; but my understanding is that the inflammatory response is a component of the 'Innate immune system', a very, very, old, comparatively rudimentary; but fast-responding complement to the more recent immune system with pathogen-specific antibodies and killer T cells and things.
The inflammation itself is partially a cause of the changes that tissues undergo to do damage control and partially serves to increase supply of particular chemicals and cell types [wikipedia.org] at the site of the issue(leading to the redness and swelling that are most obvious.
As for it being associated with a laundry list of unpleasant diseases, I'm told that it's a combination of:
1. Inflammation is (when it's working correctly) a stress response/damage control mechanism, that kicks in in response to certain environmental stresses and pathogens, so people who are inflamed a lot are also unpleasantly likely to be people who are being exposed to something that isn't doing them any good.
2. Like scarring, inflammation is one of those 'unpleasant; but it beat dying for most of evolutionary history' arrangements that wreaks a lot of havoc in the process of saving you from infection or tissue damage; which was a much better trade-off before we had access to modern medicine to deal with our acute illnesses and injuries; but also wanted to live to be 90.
3. The immune system, innate and acquired, is sort of your own personal military-industrial complex, and has a nasty tendency to sometimes go off the rails and start killing civilians in an increasingly paranoid response to minimal or nonexistent security threats, giving us autoimmune disorders.
Paranoia: They really are out to get you. (Score:4, Informative)
The immune system, innate and acquired, is sort of your own personal military-industrial complex, and has a nasty tendency to sometimes go off the rails and start killing civilians in an increasingly paranoid response to minimal or nonexistent security threats, giving us autoimmune disorders.
Consider the evolutionary theory of pathogen Molecular Mimicry -- infectious agents that adopt motifs that resemble normal host antigens should have a selective advantage. In an absolute form, the theory is not completely accepted -- immunological cross-reactivity between host and pathogen could be due to evolution, or it could be due to chance -- and examples exist that support either case. But I think it is likely that the mechanism operates at least some situations.
The consequence is that a somewhat over-active immune system may actually be the optimum state, with the particular degree of paranoia being the amount that best balances the trade-off between autoimmune disease risk against infection outcomes.
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Oh, being the immune system is definitely a "just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you" situation, because oh boy are they ever. It's just not much comfort to people who have plenty of access to antibiotics; but no longer have a functional pancreas...
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Inflammation if not caused by micro-organizms can lead to invasion by them and when it goes through the blood stream is referred to a Sepsis.
Sepsis is ultra-serious and life threatening. Inflammation in organs can damage internal organs.
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can someone tell me why so much of modern medicine involves controlling or preventing inflammation?
I'm not a doctor either, but I can help answer this part. Inflammation hurts -- think headaches and pulled muscles. There are also a lot of chronic, painful conditions that involve inflammation, like arthritis. It's a big deal for your quality of life.
antibiotics and statistics (Score:2)
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Paleo (Score:1)
It would help explain why the paleo diet is supposed to cut caner risk drastically: Without all the etra carbs there is less inflammation in the body. Food for thought :)
Would diet matter? (Score:2)
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"Specifically taking probiotic supplements, yogurt, etc?"
no, becasue they don't work. Clinical probiotics MIGHT have an effect. :
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/probiotics/ [sciencebasedmedicine.org]
LGBT (Score:3)
Fox News called it... Gay marriage is going to kill us all!
Just so you know. (Score:2)
Those aren't new questions.
So where is the epidemiological evidence? (Score:2)
If some, any, cancer were transmitted through bacteria , then it would produce a infectious footprint in the epidemiological record.
Where is that footprint?
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infectious footprint in the epidemiological record.
What's an infectious footprint? Since bacteria lack feet, I don't see how they can leave footprints.
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The number 1 killer in the first world, by a wide margin, is heart disease, caused by aging muscles and blood pressure increases. In the third world, lots of relatively simple, preventable illnesses are a common cause of death.
Re:So... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)
More so in the US with it's love for chemicals.
Well at least it's not like your country, where you eat too many apostrophes and occasionally puke them out when you're ranting.
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Probably a write or read past the end of an array. Debuggers love allocating extra space and accidentally making that stuff safe. Use a memory profiler; Valgrind will sort you out.
Interestingly, that may be what's happening in the first half of the paper. They spend a lot of time rambling about laboratory contaminants as though they're apologetic high school students trying to explain why their vinegar-and-baking-soda volcano burned a hole in the teacher's desk.
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If (Func1() or Func2()) then
The compiler decided that if Func1() returned true, there was no point in executing Func2(), as it wasn't going to make the OR statement any truer. The debugger had different ideas, though, and ran both Func1() and Func2(). Both functions needed to run for the program to work properly.
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Re:So... (Score:4, Insightful)
You know that this is complete and utter garbage, and that people still get old, right? That you're a moron throwing around your ignorance like a giant ill-informed medicine ball?
"Chemicals" doesn't mean anything. You want to talk about specific chemicals and their poorly understood interaction with biology, well, that's just dandy. Like want to talk about metabolization of monosaccharides versus polysaccharides? Be my guest. Want to think that mysterious "chemicals" beyond human comprehension, then you're a goddamn moron.
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Chemicals does mean something to people that aren't pedantic myopes without contextual abilities. Compare prosciutto and bacon. What's funny is how much additional chemicals peopl
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Apparently having a basic understanding of biology, nutrition, and chemistry is "brainwashed". The difference between prosciutto and bacon is how the poor-little-piggy is butchered. You'll find prosciutto with plenty of damned preservative phosphates, basic salting, and antibiotics as common bacon, and you can, in fact, find bacon that is 100% organic with no such treatment.
You're essentially saying here: "No get the filet mignon, it's less toxic than the ribeye, you know, because it's french". There is
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l-carnitine is one for sure
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Had to look it up. You're saying something that is statistically associated with lower risk of heart disease as a cause of heart disease. It's actually being considered as a treatment, according to wikipedia. I find the basis for that assertion a little "woo"ish for my tastes, but that's aside the point.
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http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/new-study-links-l-carnitine-in-red-meat-to-heart-disease-201304176083 [harvard.edu]
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DHMO(or as I like to call it, hydrogen hydroxide), is actually an important part of treating heart disease. Sodium chloride was the particular example I was thinking of, so way to steal my thunder, jerkface.
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I dunno about that; heart failure is found in 100% of DHMO overdoses. The rat LD50 for DMHO is only 90 g/kg.
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Re:So... (Score:5, Informative)
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If you think these processes should all be sped up you may want to reduce your ability to produce melatonin.
Evolution sure does. It's set up that way for a reason: shorter life expectancies during times of abundance yield a more rapid mutation rate. This is the sublime hand of God's design in action. (What a great guy, eh?) It's immensely futile to be upset about our hard-wired suicidal tendencies, since they're supposed to clear space for our children—but feel free to rewrite them, if you really think it's best for the world.
Jennifer Anne Luke did her phd on the accumulation of Fluoride in the pineal where it accumulates to levels higher than even the bones over 1000-10,000+ ppm, as a universal enzyme inhibitor it greatly reduces production of melatonin.
Only until puberty—Luke's thesis abstract states that after that, melatonin
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BTW, the only place you'll find prosciutto with chemicals is when it's made by US companies!! And yes, because of farming practices, animal husbandry, and feed quality, that french cow, or italian, etc... are all going to be healthier for you than something raised by US standards. I know, I know, you've been fed the kool-aid since
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Though in general, sulfur smells aren't my idea of toxic spill smells, more just like a round trip to hell.
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Again these anonymous "chemicals". You keep telling me to open my eyes, but then flailing wildly in all directions when I ask where to look with, what I assure you, is quite capable vision. You don't understand what you're saying, and worse, you don't understand that you don't understand what you're saying.
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Maybe you're just a young kid that doesn't remember when this scientific information came out decades ago?
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As someone with a Dad who is 92 years old, and in relatively good health, for his age, I will have to vehemently disagree with you.
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There are some players we managed to get out of the game. Many infections are no longer allowed to play. Thus higher numb
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What if we can make suicide (death with dignity, etc.) the leading cause of death? Would we still be rolling the dice then?
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More so in the US with it's love for chemicals.
Your rant would be much more convincing if you gave some indication that you understood basic chemistry. YOU are made up of chemicals. Everything you eat, even the nutritious stuff, is made up of chemicals. The people who told you that "chemicals are bad" are fearmongering without knowledge, don't listen to them.
Also, your knowledge of heart disease seems to be lacking....I'll bet you got it from the same people that told you chemicals are bad.
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You know what I mean, and if you don't, well, you really are an idiot. I guess in a way it's easier to assume the other person is a dumb sheeple for believing nonsense than dealing with the fact that the US food industry is just a dumping ground for chemical byproducts and you pay for the privilege of consuming industrial waste.
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And in fact, the rest of your post confirms it. Chemical byproducts? Industrial waste? Those are definitely not what is causing heart disease in the typical American diet.
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Byproducts. Just because you can't comprehend how that explains clearly doesn't mean I'm the idiot. Most non-idiots understand that the
The problem with your post is that the words are completely orthogonal to reality. Next you're probably going to tell me, "if it's natural, it's good for you." Please do, I will laugh.
I don't think you are an idiot, I think you lack knowledge. If you gained knowledge (and from real repositories of knowledge, not the propaganda you currently digest), you would not sound like an idiot, and this conversation would be much more enjoyable.
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I don't digest propaganda, it gives me indigestion. Have you ever considered the possibility I sound like an idiot precisely because I did not digest the prevaling propaganda?
This might be worth considering, if you had any knowledge at all. Prevailing propaganda or niche propaganda, you got your propaganda from somewhere, and swallowed it whole.
I can tell because it doesn't match reality.
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It's not my job to do other people's thinking for them
I know, you can't even handle thinking yourself. Or rather, it is your research ability that is lacking.
nor is this the appropriate forum for proofs.
You've adequately demonstrated your lack of knowledge, don't worry.
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However, I would prefer to grow and cook my own food and die by any unintentional mistake than to die slowly by overtaxing my waste disposal systems by the intentional addition of non-natural ingredients solely for the sake of increasing a companies bottom line.
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You do know that that some people that exercise often and eat properly still get heart disease? And that it is is associated with inflammation, right? And that low-level infection/inflammation is a contributing cause to clogged arteries? And that all sorts of things go wrong with the body and metabolism due to old age, regardless of the good diet you may follow, including stiffening of the blood vessels and valves, reduction in i
One reversing heart disease with nutrition (Score:2)
http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/PCI_angioplasty_article.aspx [drfuhrman.com]
"Interventional cardiology and cardiovascular surgery is basically a scam based on a misunderstanding of the nature of heart disease. Searching for and treating obstructive plaque does not address the areas of the coronary vascular tree most likely to rupture and cause heart attacks. If there was never another CABG or angioplasty performed or stent placed, patients with heart disease would be better off. Doctors would be forced to educate our citi
BlueZones is at least trying (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Zone [wikipedia.org]
http://www.bluezones.com/programs/blue-zones-communities/albert-lea-mn/ [bluezones.com]
Overcoming "The Pleasure Trap" can be hard, and it helps when you have community support.
Your point illustrates how good health is becoming a geeky info-tech thing?
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I wasn't saying otherwise. I was just saying that in the first world, we have good enough medicine, that non-bacterial problems represent the biggest health concerns.
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Has everyone forgotten "an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure"? Our society's biggest disease is ignorance and arrogance.
That's silly. We need people working as hard as possible during their peak earning years so they can pay the maximum amount of taxes so we can fund things like cancer treatment, the regulatory machine, and foreign wars. Cancer gets most of them after they retire and we need the money *now*. Relaxing and eating well would reduce the tax revenue significantly - your publ
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We the People need to reject the feudal economics that says a government can only spend what it takes in, and vote accordingly. We must remember that Lincoln created over $400 million greenbacks to raise money without increasing taxes or borrowing it. Reagan proved deficits don't matter. Japan has a 230% debt-to-gdp ratio and a currency it keeps trying to devalue. The US has had a national debt since Alexander Hamilton in the first administration assumed the states' war debts; none of the predictions of gra
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We are in the midst of an 'economic war'. Acts of 'economic war': pegging currencies, printing money, dumping.
Don't infer wider results until you see how this mess works out.
Counter anecdote: Germany's post WWI debt.
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Consider Weimar Germany, compared to the United States of today. Germany had just lost a world war, to the US. Germany had its factories taken over by force by France, as part of its reparation payments because of losing the world war. Germany was a new democracy.
The US is a sovereign nation that has a strong military and has not lost a world war to anyone. The US is not being compelled to pay reparations to any country that defeated it in a world war. The US has a centuries old tradition of constitutional
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If we continue to print money for 'bread and circuses' we will only devalue our currency. Have you looked at how the government spends? Cost based accounting?
Note how much of our increased money supply has gone overseas. Eventually they will want something for it. Joke will be on them. The price China pays for mercantilism.
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Why should the currency devalue, if we're continuing to increase knowledge and innovation? The focus should be on how to create new things and knowledge advancement. Money is simply a tool to help us towards those goals. As long as we keep innovating we can create as much money as we like. Debt is a complete distraction; knowledge is the key to standard of living increases.
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Also termed lateral gene transfer
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You have nightly access to your enemies bedsheets?
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It was your advice. I know the rules are different for girls...if shes got nightly access to my sheets, she would have fiberglass in uncomfortable places (place anyhow).