pokemon causes cancer! - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Karby · 01-28-2005, 09:05 AM

it's true!

...Wow, those doctors REALLY should not have named it that... It's a good thing Pokemon isn't very popular anymore, or parents would freak without really bothering to read that article.
though, i still wonder..might nintendo have a basis for a suit, even in the slightest? we all know they're still milking that pokemon cow till it runs dry, and having their pikachu products sharing the same name of a cancer causing gene can't be all that good for them...

mwscircle · 01-28-2005, 10:52 AM

really lol?

Slavakion · 01-28-2005, 11:55 AM

I smell a lawsuit in the air.

Spicy McHaggis · 01-28-2005, 12:54 PM

The cartoon causes seizures, now it causes cancer, too?! Who knew Pikachu was so evil

Coppertop · 01-28-2005, 12:57 PM

Quote:

New Cancer Gene Identified
Oncogene Plays a Critical Role in Tumor Formation

NEW YORK, January 20, 2005 - Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have identified a new cellular oncogene essential for the development of cancer. Oncogenes are genes that, when mutated or dysfunctional, lead normal cells to become cancerous. The investigators have named the gene POKEMON (for POK Erythroid Myeloid Ontogenic factor). The work is being published in the January 20, 2005, issue of Nature.

"There are a number of genes that can cause cancer, the so-called oncogenes, but Pokemon is unique in that it is needed for other oncogenes to cause cancer." said MSKCC cancer geneticist Pier Paolo Pandolfi, MD, PhD, the senior author of the study. "More important, because the Pokemon protein plays such a crucial role in the formation of cancer, it could prove to be an effective target for new drug therapies."

Pokemon works by controlling the pathways that are required to transform normal cells to cancerous ones. The researchers found that when they "knocked out" the Pokemon gene in mice, that transformation was blocked and cells do not become cancerous. (Knocking out a gene means inactivating it through genetic engineering.) A drug that could block the protein's function in the same way could be a powerful anticancer agent.

"Pokemon is a main switch in the molecular network that leads toward cancer," Dr. Pandolfi added. "If we could turn Pokemon off, it may block this oncogenic circuitry and stall the malignant process."

The investigators confirmed Pokemon's cancer-causing role by inserting the oncogene into mice. Pokemon does its damage by repressing the function of other proteins, including a tumor suppressor called ARF. The mice developed aggressive, fatal forms of lymphoma. In further work, using a technique called tissue micro arrays to study tumor samples from people with many types of cancer, they confirmed that Pokemon is present in very high levels in certain types of B-cell and T-cell lymphomas. They also found that tumors with high levels of Pokemon protein were much more likely to be aggressive.

"Pokemon is a member of a family of proteins that are known to be transcription factors and are mutated in human cancer," said Takahiro Maeda, MD, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow in Dr. Pandolfi's laboratory who was the paper's first author. "It is likely that the protein plays a role in solid tumors as well, and we now have means to specifically interfere with the activity of these transcription factors."

Other authors on the paper were Robin M. Hobbs, PhD; Taha Merghoub, PhD; Ilhem Guernah, MS; Carlos Cordon-Cardo, MD, PhD; and Julie Teruya-Feldstein, MD from MSKCC; and Arthur Zelent, PhD, of the Institute of Cancer Research in the United Kingdom. The work was supported in part by a grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is the world's oldest and largest institution devoted to prevention, patient care, research and education in cancer. Our scientists and clinicians generate innovative approaches to better understand, diagnose and treat cancer. Our specialists are leaders in biomedical research and in translating the latest research to advance the standard of cancer care worldwide.

For the clicking impaired.

thriolith · 01-29-2005, 12:39 PM

I also sense a lawsuit in the air... That's just rather rediculous to use an acronym like that... they added an "N" out of nowhere as well, heh.

cockmonger · 02-01-2005, 10:58 PM

what do you suppose POK stands for in "POK Erythroid Myeloid Ontogenic factor." sounds alittle tackked on to me.

boredom · 02-02-2005, 09:14 AM

You see that news post in where the son tried to kill his father for taking away his pokemon game? Dunno whats worse the cancer or patracide(sp.)

01-28-2005, 09:05 AM	#1 (permalink)
Karby Psycho Location: somewhere	pokemon causes cancer! it's true! ...Wow, those doctors REALLY should not have named it that... It's a good thing Pokemon isn't very popular anymore, or parents would freak without really bothering to read that article. though, i still wonder..might nintendo have a basis for a suit, even in the slightest? we all know they're still milking that pokemon cow till it runs dry, and having their pikachu products sharing the same name of a cancer causing gene can't be all that good for them... __________________ ~my karma ran over my dogma.~

01-28-2005, 10:52 AM	#2 (permalink)
mwscircle Upright	really lol? __________________ Case closed ®

01-29-2005, 12:39 PM	#6 (permalink)
thriolith Insane Location: Toronto	I also sense a lawsuit in the air... That's just rather rediculous to use an acronym like that... they added an "N" out of nowhere as well, heh. __________________ - Thriolith

02-01-2005, 10:58 PM	#7 (permalink)
cockmonger Insane	what do you suppose POK stands for in "POK Erythroid Myeloid Ontogenic factor." sounds alittle tackked on to me. __________________ Lovely party Geoffery, but theres a turd in the punch bowl. -George Carlin

02-02-2005, 09:14 AM	#8 (permalink)
boredom Insane Location: California	You see that news post in where the son tried to kill his father for taking away his pokemon game? Dunno whats worse the cancer or patracide(sp.) __________________ Wiggum: Find anything this time, boys? Cop: Uh, no sign of him, Chief. Wiggum: Princess Opal? Opal: I see nothing here, but I'm afraid it's splitsville for Delta Burke and Major Dad. Wiggum: But they seem so happy! -- ``Bart the Murderer''

01-28-2005, 11:55 AM	#3 (permalink)
Slavakion Mjollnir Incarnate Location: Lost in thought	I smell a lawsuit in the air.

01-28-2005, 12:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
Spicy McHaggis Tilted Location: Athens, OH	The cartoon causes seizures, now it causes cancer, too?! Who knew Pikachu was so evil