CODGER CONFRONTS DNA METHYLATION

Linda in Thebes

Thank God I’ve found it!  There is an outfit called Two Minute Medicine that boils things down to such short-but-pithy, fact-loaded dimensions that even my fast-depleting store of energy can deal with them.  The article below tosses out some important facts that you all should  consider,  First, some background:

                Methylation:  An epigenetic process whereby a methyl group (CH₃) is attached to the DNA molecule.  The effect of methylation usually is to prevent the proper functioning of a gene.

                Promoter:  A segment of DNA which tells the mechanism that translate the DNA sequence constituting a gene into RNA where and when to start.

                Familial cancer:  A cancer that “runs” in a family, with no known inheritable mutated DNA source.  (A purist might cringe at that definition.)

So what they have found is that women with unmutated BRCA1 genes may still be abnormally susceptible to OVCA IF the promoter region of their BRCA gene is methylated.  Sounds reasonable, right?  Furthermore, they have found that the condition of methylated BRCA promoters can be inherited.   Voila!  Familial ovarian cancer.

It seems to me that this discovery adds even more to the case for universal screening of female infants, as well as gives us one more thing to test for.

Read this:

https://www.2minutemedicine.com/normal-tissue-brca1-methylation-associated-with-risk-for-high-grade-ovarian-cancer/