For everyone whose life has been touched by cancer, One Renegade Cell tells the story of the search for the ultimate causes of this dreaded disease.. One of the leading cancer researchers in the world, Robert A. Weinberg is perfectly suited to describe the search for cancers origins from the early days of this century to the present. Presuming little knowledge of biology, he tells how a cancer-causing virus was first discovered in 1909, how the correlation was made between chemical carcinogens and cancer, and how oncogenes (the genes that can turn a cell malignant) work. He explains clearly how malignant cells send messages to one another and also block the messages of normal cells. Finally, Weinberg predicts that cancer prevention may depend on our ability to understand the mysterious chemical clock that regulates our cells most basic functions. One Renegade Cell offers a concise, accessible route into the complex and often daunting world of cancer and cancer research. }Cancer research has reached a major turning point. The quality and quantity of information gathered about this disease in the past twenty years has revolutionized our understanding of its origins and behavior. No one is better qualified to comment on these dramatic leaps forward than molecular biologist Robert A. Weinberg, director of one of the leading cancer research centers in the world. In One Renegade Cell , Weinberg presents an accessible and state-of-the-art account of how the disease begins and how, one day, it will be cured.Weinberg tells how the roots of cancer were uncovered in 1909 and when the first cancer-causing virus was discovered. He then moves forward to the discovery of the role of chemical carcinogens and radiation in triggering cancer, and relates the remarkable story of the discoveries of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, the master controllers of normal and malignant cell proliferation. This book, which presumes little prior knowledge of biology, describes the revolution in biomedical research that has finally uncovered the forces driving malignant growth. Drawing on insights that simply were not available until recently, the discoveries presented in One Renegade Cell have already begun to profoundly alter the way that we diagnose and treat human cancers. }

Table of Contents:
The Enemy Within: Genes, Cells, and the Nature of Cancer; Clues to Cancers Origins: How the Outside World Affects the Insides of Our Cells; The Elusive Quarry: Hunting the Proto-oncogene; Fatal Flaws: Finding Oncogenes in Human Tumors; A Book of Many Chapters: Multistep Tumor Development; Fueling the Fire: Carcinogens That Arent Mutagens; Brake Linings: The Discovery of Tumor Suppressor Genes; Guts: A Case Study in Cancer Development; Defenders of the Text: DNA Repair and Its Breakdown; Guide Proteins of the Cell: The Machinery That Controls Growth; A Breakdown of Order: Subverting Normal Growth Control; Immortality: Avoidance of Almost Certain Death; Assisted Suicide: Apoptosis and the Death Program; A Clock Without Hands: The Cell Cycle Clock Apparatus; Many Obstacles in the Road: The Evolution of a Tumor; An End to the Scourge: Using the Knowledge of Cancers Causes to Develop New Cures