S5.05 Sex and the Single Cell
Hello, and welcome to Genetics Unzipped - the Genetics Society podcast, with me, Dr Kat Arney. In this episode we’re taking a look under the covers - or rather, the coverslip - exploring groundbreaking recent discoveries about the secret sex lives of cancer cells, and what it means for our understanding of tumour growth, evolution and treatment.
Censored lung cancer cells. Image credit: Anne Weston, Francis Crick Institute
Under the coverslip: the sex lives of cancer cells
Sometime around 2009, Andriy Marusyk was staring down the microscope in the lab at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, checking in on his latest experiment aimed at understanding how cancerous and healthy cells interact together in tumours when he made a provocative discovery. Cancer cells were having sex.
This story was written by Kat for the online science magazine Neo.Life - you can read it in full over on their website. And if you’re a fan of fascinating and though-provoking science writing about biology and technology - and especially the fusion of both - then do head over to Neo.Life to explore all their other stories.
Does cancer care about sex?
Our second tale today also comes from one of the other fascinating sex-related stories Kat uncovered while researching her book Rebel Cell. Although men have a greater risk of cancer overall, there are discrepancies in the incidence of cancers affecting both sexes. Now, while some of this may be down to hormones or health habits, such as smoking, diet and drinking alcohol, it’s not enough to explain all the differences.
It's increasingly becoming clear that another reason could be the sex chromosomes themselves. Genetically speaking, people who have two X chromosomes are female while those with an X and a Y are male. But, as Professor Kristin Swanson discovered, there are some even more fundamental differences when it comes to the sex of cancer cells, and how they behave in the body.
XX and XY chromosomes. Image credit: Wessex Reg. Genetics Centre
That’s all for now. We’ll be back next time taking a look at exosomes: tiny packets of biological information circulating around the body that were once thought to be cellular junk but are now proving to be a fascinating new frontier in medicine.
For more information about this podcast including show notes, transcripts, links, references, music credits and everything else head over to geneticsunzipped.com You can find us on Twitter @geneticsunzip and please do take a moment to rate and review us on Apple podcasts or if you have the Spotify app, give us five stars - it really makes a difference and helps more people discover the show.
Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney. It is produced by First Create the Media for The Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. You can find out more and apply to join at genetics.org.uk. Our theme music was composed by Dan Pollard, and the logo was designed by James Mayall, and audio production was by Sally Le Page. Thanks for listening, and until next time, goodbye.
Credits:
Music and sound effects licensed from Epidemic Sound and Envato
