Laron Syndrome

Laron Syndrome

Austin Holmes

2/23/11

I found the article about short Ecuadorian in relation to cancer to be extremely interesting. The one thing I found that was a little odd was that it said the Ecuadorians with Laron Syndrome were immune to cancer and diabetes. However, the doctor from Ecuador who conducted research on 100 of the patients said that one of the patients had non-fatal cancer. Those two pieces of information contradict each other so I was a little confused about that. 

I also thought this article definitely applied to our study of the cell cycle because it is a result of a mutated gene. It ties in very well with our study of how cancer is caused at a molecular level. In this case what happens is the gene binds with human growth hormone in our body, and produces Insulin-like growth factor 1 or IGF1 this causes the cells to grow and divide. I did find it a little bit surprising how the rates of IGF1 can affect your chances to get cancer. This information definitely gives me hope that cancer is curable. If we can manipulate the rates of IGF1 in our body to reduce cancer many lives can be saved. With each new piece of information I become increasingly more confident that one day we will be able to find a definitive cure for all cancers.