Lecture to explore link between cancer and aging

EVENT:

Steven Frank, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, will speak on “Cancer and aging: How our bodies are designed to be reliable and why they fail” as part of the Allergan Foundation Lecture Series in Modern Biology. This lecture is sponsored by the UC Irvine School of Biological Sciences.
DATE: Tuesday, November 27, 2007
TIME: 7-8 p.m.
LOCATION: Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering, 100 Academy Way, UCI campus.

BACKGROUND:

Why does cancer occur more often as people grow older? Steven Frank says it comes down to the history of cells in the human body. Life starts with one cell, when egg and sperm unite. As adults, humans have about 10 trillion cells. Each year, many cells die and are replaced. With time, genetic errors accumulate as new cells are made. This ticking clock of errors breaks down the reliability systems built into the cells and tissues. When scientists view the breakdown of reliability in the context of cellular history, they can analyze many puzzles about the age of cancer onset, including: Why do certain cancers happen mostly in children? Why do inherited mutations shift cancer onset to earlier ages? Why does quitting smoking change the subsequent chance of getting cancer?

The lecture series is funded by the Allergan Foundation. Allergan Inc. is an Irvine-based healthcare company providing eye care and specialty pharmaceutical products worldwide. The series is designed to inform the community on the biological advances that one day may impact their lives.