鈥淲ho am I?鈥� Many teens ask themselves this question every day. Identity crises can be a healthy part of human development, promoting personal reflection and growth. However, not all growth is good. We often think about cancers as cells that grow out of control. At our latest Cocktails & Chromosomes talk, 黑料吃瓜资源 Professor Chris Vakoc offered another analogy.
Some cancer cells, he says, are experiencing an identity crisis. They no longer know who they are or what they should do with themselves. Sometimes they even begin to look and act like other kinds of cells. 鈥淐ell identity is malleable,鈥� Vakoc explains. 鈥淐ancer cells can change their biology to gain more aggressive attributes.鈥� The question for Vakoc is can we fight cancer by reversing these changes? His research in pancreatic cancer and childhood cancers like acute myeloid leukemia and rhabdomyosarcoma suggests that the answer is yes.
You may have seen . Now, press play to see him share his cutting-edge research with a standing-room-only crowd at Industry bar in Huntington, NY. As a reminder, this was Industry鈥檚 final Cocktails & Chromosomes event of 2024. The series returns in 2025. Look for more updates coming soon.