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Seminar Detail
Cancer as Metazoa 1.0
Presenter: Paul Davies (Arizona State University)
January 30, 2012 11:00 AM Pacific
Cancer is widespread among eukaryotes, and can be successfully tackled only by understanding its place in the story of life itself – especially the evolution of multi-cellularity. In this seminar I will propose a new theory of cancer, drawing on insights from astrobiology. The central hypothesis is that cancer is an organized pre-programmed process driven by a cassette of highly conserved, deeply-evolved ancient genes – genes that are active in early-stage embryo development, and which become inappropriately re-awakened in the adult form. In effect, cancer tumors are atavisms, recapitulating an ancient life form – “Metazoa 1.0” – dating back to the dawn of multi-cellularity. This hypothesis differs fundamentally from the popular notion that cancers are deregulated rogue cells running amok, and explains cancer’s well-known robustness and resilience. It also offers a well-defined target for therapy.
Participation Instructions
TO JOIN USING A VIDEOCONFERENCING SYSTEM:
Please RSVP to Marco Boldt (Marco.Boldt@nasa.gov) if you will be joining by Polycom.
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TO JOIN USING A WEB BROWSER:
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http://connect.arc.nasa.gov/nai_directors_seminar/
Click here to view Online RecordingDecember 21, 2007
The Director’s Seminar series features talks from scientists who are invited by the NAI Director to present their research results to the community. A primary goal of the seminars is to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration across NAI teams and within the astrobiology community at large.
Team Overview Seminars describe the work of the fourteen NAI teams and NAI Central. They offer an opportunity to find out more about the science, E/PO and other activities being performed by the NAI teams and the NAI Central office.
The Forum for Astrobiology Research (FAR) provides an opportunity for graduate students to present their research results and to meet as a student community for networking and mutual support.
The University of Washington seminar series is hosted by the NAI Virtual Planetary Lab (VPL) team from the UW campus in Seattle.
