The BRCA1 Gene: Understanding Why Some Women Opt for Mastectomy

Fabiha Atiq
Freshman
School of Life Sciences
Independent University, Bangladesh

March 23rd, 2017

Ever wonder why people say your nose looks like your mom’s nose or that your eyes remind them of your dad? The answer to your question is DNA. DNA (deoxyribonuleic acid) determines characteristics that are passed from parents to children, such as blood type, hair colour, eye colour, etc.

Genes are made of DNA and they contain information to build and manage cells (smallest unit of life) in the body. The BRCA1 gene is a human tumor-suppressor gene, found in all human beings. BRCA1 stands for BReast CAncer susceptibility gene1.

Tumor-suppressor genes are genes that normally prevent cancer by controlling cell division. When they do not work properly cells start dividing rapidly and uncontrollably, which can lead to cancer. Mutations are changes in the genetic sequences that can lead to changes in their function. BRCA1 is a tumor suppressor gene; when it undergoes certain mutations it leads to an elevated risk for breast cancer.

When women are diagnosed with breast cancer, doctors may suggest a lumpectomy or surgical removal of the affected part of the breast. In extreme cases, a mastectomy, which is the surgical removal of the complete breast/breasts, may also be recommended. The purpose of these procedures is to treat and preemptively reduce chances of recurrence of breast cancer by surgically removing cancerous tissues, along with adjacent healthy tissue in the surrounding area.

The mutated BRCA1 gene increases the likelihood of developing breast cancer by 55% or more. While regular monitoring after detection of the mutated BRCA1 could effectively deal with the risk if cancer does arise, there have been a few cases of women opting for preventative mastectomy to avoid developing breast cancer in the future. Often, women who opt for preventative mastectomies are the ones who have a history of breast cancer in their family and are carriers of this mutation.



A famous case of preventative mastectomy that circulated on the internet was that of celebrity Angelina Jolie. She had both of her breasts surgically removed because she carried the mutated BRCA1 gene and was at high risk of getting cancer. Her mother, grandmother and aunt had all died from cancer. By opting for a preventative mastectomy, she showed women all over the world that this procedure can be a normal part of women's health, instead of a source of shame or embarrassment.

To put the public health burden of breast cancer into perspective, 508,000 women died from breast cancer in 2011 alone worldwide.  Once they turn 40, all women should get themselves checked for breast cancer, or at least start thinking about it, according to recommendations from the American Cancer Society.

“Knowing it exists isn’t enough. Get informed. Pass it on.”– Breast Cancer Awareness Slogan.

Fabiha is in her first year of IUB, and aspires to be a forensic scientist. She is a bookworm, a shutterbug, and loves to write.

Introducing GMOs

Ridwan Hossain
Freshman
School of Life Sciences
Independent University, Bangladesh

March 23rd, 2017

We are living in a time where technological advancement is at its peak. Everyday some new kind of technology is found and implemented into our society. Genetically modified organism or GMOs constitute one such technology that is in the process of being accepted into our lives. To understand what GMOs are, we need an idea of what a gene is. My skin color, your ability to digest dairy products, whether a plant can grow in salt water or not: these are all specific characteristics that can be inherited. Such characteristics are determined by genes which are present in the cells of all living organisms. Scientists can now identify genes in the cells of organisms and modify them. This lets us determine what characteristics we want certain organisms such as crops to have and these products of genetic manipulation are called genetically modified organisms. 

A useful application of genetic modification has been the creation of pest-resistant plants. Farmers use pesticides (chemicals that kill insects) to protect their crops from harm. Pesticides are known to be poisonous which harm the environment and any living thing that consumes food that it had been used on, including humans. Scientists can use genetic modification to create plants that produce certain biopesticides. Biopesticides are naturally occurring materials inside certain organisms which act as pesticides. For example, a bacteria named Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) produces a protein which acts as a pesticide to certain insects. Scientists have incorporated the gene that produces this protein into plants such as corn and cotton, thereby enabling the plants to produce the protein on their own. Farmers can now grow these genetically modified plants without worrying about using artificial pesticides. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tested the safety of these GMOs, and determined that when these crops are consumed, the added protein acts as a normal dietary protein and is digested, posing no health problems to the consumers. Genetic modification can also be used to produce plants that are resistant to environmental stressors such as drought and high salinity, and these varieties – many of them still under development – are likely to be increasingly useful as many regions begin to experience less rainfall and rising salinity as a result of climate change.

In 2003 the total amount of GMO crops farmed worldwide was 168 million acres. In 2015 that number rose to 444 million acres. United States alone had 176 million acres of genetically modified crops growing in 2015. Even though we get so much out of GMO crops, it garners a lot of backlash from the general population. The idea of GMOs and the road leading to its state right now might be old, but the exposure of its products to the general population is relatively new and unknown. Most people who are against GMOs believe that they are harmful to ingest, and that they harm the environment. Such ideas mainly stem from a lack of knowledge about science and a certain amount of distrust toward scientists. An in-depth analysis of 1,783 scientific articles about the safety of GM crops published between 2002 and 2012 has been carried out and the results show no harmful effects of any kind occurring due to GM crops. There is a rigorous process that checks every GMO before making them available to the general population. U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) tests the GMOs to see if they are safe to farm, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tests food obtained from GMOs to see if they are safe to consume, and the EPA tests to see if the pest-resistant GMO crops harm the environment or not. 

Selecting for beneficial traits is nothing new as we have been manipulating animals' and crops' genes for centuries. We domesticated dogs, cows, sheep and other animals. We choose crops that have the highest yield and grow them in large amounts, thus selecting for certain characteristics. A good example of this is the crop maize whose ancestor is actually a grass plant known as teosinte. At the end of the day, GMOs are beneficial. The only thing we can do is to teach people more about the science behind GMOs, and that it does us no harm.

Ridwan is a freshman at IUB whose dream is to be a renowned mad scientist. He will be a Nobel laureate.