Basic Sciences and Molecular Medicine Approaches
To answer the questions "What genes are mutated and what is the role of these
genes in causing cancer" laboratory scientists use a variety of molecular and
cellular biology techniques. Very often, answering these questions requires
that the gene being studied is cloned. Once a gene is cloned, many questions
can be asked regarding its function.
- What is the nucleotide sequence of the gene and does it resemble any other
genes for which we know the function?
- When, where (in what cells) and how much is the gene
expressed (protein synthesized).
- What happens if the gene product is overproduced?
- What happens to a cell or organism if the gene product is made
non-functional?
- With what proteins does the gene product interact?
For examples of what we learned using these types of techniques, go to Molecular Biology of Cancer.
