Word: lungfuls
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Smokers are much more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers - that has been a scientific truism for decades. But what about the 80% of smokers who don't develop lung cancer? Are they just the lucky ones? A trio of new studies suggests that the explanation for why they escape the disease may lie partly in their genes...
...population and occur in genes in the same region of the long arm of chromosome 15. Those genes code for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, cell-surface proteins that selectively bind to nicotine molecules. Once nicotine attaches to these receptors, a series of changes in the cells is triggered: in the lungs, for example, cells are pushed into rapid, uncontrolled growth, which promotes the growth of new feeder blood vessels, creating, in turn, a particularly hospitable environment for cancer tumors. The new studies, published in Nature and Nature Genetics, found that smokers who possessed one copy of either variant were 28% more...
...These are very interesting and potentially very, very important findings," says Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association. "They put nicotine front and center in smoking-related diseases, including lung cancer...
...next step is to toss a vaccine into the mix and watch the action unfold. (MIMIC uses skin-like constructs, since cuts and open sores on the skin are a natural entry point for many viruses, but different viruses prefer different doorways, so VaxDesign has already created a lung construct, and artificial nasal and intestinal linings are in the works...
...scientists administered both vaccine types to guinea pigs and found TB symptoms in only one percent of lung and spleen tissue from animals receiving the aerosal treatment, compared to five and 10 percent for those that had been injected...