Discussion:
Chemotherapeutic drugs, tissue types, bone callus, white fat
1. Two examples of chemotherapeutic drugs (drugs used to treat cancer) and their cellular actions are listed below. Explain why each drug could be fatal to a cell.
Vincristine: damages the mitotic spindle
Adriamycin: Binds to DNA and Blocks mRNA synthesis
2. In adults, over 90% of all cancers are either adenomas or carcinomas. In fact, cancers of the skin, lung, breast, and prostate are all in these categories. Which one of the four basic tissue types gives rise to most cancers? Why do you think this is so?
3. Following a motorcycle accident, a 22-year-old man was rushed to the emergency room. X-rays revealed a spinal fx of his right tibia.
Two months later, x-rays revealed good bony callus formation.
What is bone callus?
4. Cindy, an overweight high school student, is overheard telling her friend that she's going to research how she can transform some of her white fat to brown fat. What is her rationale here, assuming this is possible?