rasbridge Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 You may have heard of big data. You probably haven’t heard of Ludmil Alexandrov, the researcher identifying the causes of cancer one petabyte at a time. Jacqueline Detwiler Mar 19, 2018 The only road map scientists have to help them cure cancer looks like one of those early renderings of the Amazon River, all questionable tributaries and threatening blank spaces. The available information they have to help determine what causes the disease is even less instructive. To continue the map metaphor, it’s like a napkin sketch of Albuquerque. Drawn in crayon. By a toddler. To make sense of it, a computational biologist named Ludmil Alexandrov is sorting through tumor samples from 22 countries at the University of California, San Diego, Supercomputer Center—on a computer so enormous it has a name, Comet. The idea is to let Comet crunch thousands of genetic samples until it zeros in on the first molecular insults they have in common—mutations that can cause a normal cell to become cancerous. These so-called mutational signatures, and the biological or environmental factors that cause them, are what doctors and scientists have spent decades searching for: the causes of cancer. So far, Alexandrov’s algorithm has found 90 mutational signatures. Many are created by known carcinogens, such as tobacco, UV light, and the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. “Probably 40 of them we understand well,” he says. “But more than half, we just don’t know what they are.” Alexandrov’s team feeds Comet reams of data about the samples, trying to find out why, for example, the rate of prostate cancer is 100 times higher in Scandinavia than in South America. “We try to associate the signatures with epidemiological characteristics, clinical characteristics, gene expression,” Alexandrov says. Sometimes he gets a hit. A corn mold appeared in one analysis. A plant called Aristolochia that is popular in Chinese medicine popped up in another. Here’s what you just read: A pervasive mold and a popular Chinese medicine both cause cancer, and one guy in San Diego with a supercomputer just proved it. Imagine if he could figure out what causes the other 50 or so signatures. Unfortunately, determining the cause of an unknown mutational signature can take an enormous amount of time and money: Alexandrov’s latest project grant, to use the computer for an analysis of just 5,000 patients, was for $30 million, and even with that much, his team couldn’t evaluate every variable they wanted. It’s disappointing that the work is so expensive, Alexandrov says, because scientists with less money might have smart ideas for what to test, and finding even a single new cause of cancer could drastically reduce deaths. For example: When another team expanded Alexandrov’s work on Aristolochia, they found that the plant can be considered responsible for 80 percent of liver cancer in Taiwan. “If you find something that causes 80 percent of cancers, you can think about preventing 80 percent of cancers,” says Alexandrov. That statement may sound tautological on the surface. But read it again. Because: Wow. DNA Danger A Chinese Herb SINELAB DNA contains four bases (C, A, G, and T). These graphs show how carcinogenic substances change them to cause cancer. In this case, the substance is a medicinal herb called Aristolochia. Tobacco SINELAB Doctors already knew that tobacco could cause cancer, but Alexandrov’s work showed how—by preferentially mutating certain bases (such as cytosine) into others (adenine). Corn Mold SINELAB Some molds that grow in food crops such as corn, wheat, rice, and seeds release a carcinogen called aflatoxin. In the U.S., the FDA tests for it, and recalls have been issued. Source: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a18930160/the-causes-of-cancer/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertical Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 moved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flash48 Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 Unfortunately, I think there will never be a cure for cancer. Cancer treatments are very expensive and profitable. Too many companies will go out of business. The government is giving billions of dollars a year to find a cure. If these labs find a cure, they will be out of a job as well as the drug companies. Politics as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpGrade Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 there are a few different cures providing it is caught in time, and they are mostly natural, it does not work for 100% of cases as each person is different and depends on if treated in a timely manor and your diet too, if you do the research its out there people have been cured with no chemo or shit drugs from doctors, flash48 is correct if the doctors were to make a cure it would never be released. (they more than likely have a few already) Look up CBD and Aloe Arborescens http://yournewswire.com/woman-who-refused-chemo-cured-deadly-breast-cancer-with-cbd-oil/ there are numerous stories There are different types and strengths of CBD and different ones can be taken depending on the type of illness / cancer and diet needs to change if diagnosed, no more red meats or animal milk that type of stuff. Do some reasearch its all out there if you take the time to look. If anyone wants to know more PM me or feel free to just think im crazy and the doctors and government actually care about you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasbridge Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 5 hours ago, UpGrade said: there are a few different cures providing it is caught in time, and they are mostly natural, it does not work for 100% of cases as each person is different and depends on if treated in a timely manor and your diet too, if you do the research its out there people have been cured with no chemo or shit drugs from doctors, flash48 is correct if the doctors were to make a cure it would never be released. (they more than likely have a few already) Look up CBD and Aloe Arborescens http://yournewswire.com/woman-who-refused-chemo-cured-deadly-breast-cancer-with-cbd-oil/ there are numerous stories There are different types and strengths of CBD and different ones can be taken depending on the type of illness / cancer and diet needs to change if diagnosed, no more red meats or animal milk that type of stuff. Do some reasearch its all out there if you take the time to look. If anyone wants to know more PM me or feel free to just think im crazy and the doctors and government actually care about you... I would appreciate treatment options regarding glioblastoma for a nephew AND recurrent Sarcoma for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpGrade Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 2 hours ago, rasbridge said: I would appreciate treatment options regarding glioblastoma for a nephew AND recurrent Sarcoma for myself. ok so depending on where you live there are legal and illegal CBD products the illegal are much better and much more potent which is why they are illegal another example of medical use PM me with some more info and where you live and ill do my best to help, I AM BY NO MEANS A DOCTOR AND DO NOT CLAIM TO BE! i just know this CAN work depending on certain factors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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