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Explore how genetic engineering techniques can be applied to cancer-causing viruses in animals through this 57-minute lecture from Walter Bodmer's renowned 1984 Christmas Lectures series at The Royal Institution. Discover the fundamental differences between normal and cancer cells, learning how cellular growth and behavior are regulated by specific factors and what happens when this regulation fails. Examine how most cancers originate from a single genetically altered cell that accumulates further genetic changes before spreading throughout the body to cause malignant disease. Understand why certain tissues like lungs (due to cigarette smoking) and breast tissue in women are more susceptible to cancer development than others. Investigate the major clues scientists have uncovered about cancer cells' wayward genes through genetic engineering applications to animal cancer viruses, and explore how some human cancers also involve viral components. Learn about new approaches to cancer identification using antibodies and how these developments offer hope for better understanding, prevention, and treatment of cancer. Gain insights into the broader context of genetic inheritance, including how genes make up chromosomes in cell nuclei, the mechanics of inheritance established by Mendel, and the DNA double helix structure discovered by Watson and Crick, all contributing to our understanding of how normal cells can transform into cancer cells.
