First Reader: Cancer

This post is a first reader to the article "Evolutionary foundations for cancer biology”. I found this article to be especially interesting, I feel that more and more people are beginning to understand the interconnectedness of their day-to-day decisions. Throughout my life I have been give the impression that individuals tend to consider “things” (as in any one thing e.g. food, television, cleaning supplies, clothing) to be separate from one-another. People seem to like to believe that life is simpler than science is revealing it is, most likely because this would then add a level of responsibility that many would not be willing to address. If people actively acknowledged the cleaning supplies they used were carcinogenic then they would have to put in extra effort to find a none harmful solution when it is much easier to deny their lethality in the first place. As we as a species have began to probe the reality that every action and decision we take and make there are both direct and indirect consequences that may effect us down the road, sometimes not for half a lifetime. As talked about in the reading, precancerous growths can be in existence many years before the cancer itself manifests and these growths could have been triggered by a simple infection or short exposure to a substance. If there is one thing this reading has taught me it is to avoid everything.


Aktipis, C. Athena, and Randolph M. Nesse. "Evolutionary Foundations for Cancer Biology." The Authors 6 (2013): 144-59. Print.