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Asked by fear499had on 7 May 2024.
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Zoe Vance answered on 7 May 2024:
I don’t really do the kind of work that focuses on specific mutations, but I do find p53 mutations quite scary as a concept! p53 is a protein that’s extremely important in keeping your cells in check so that they don’t multiply out of control and create a tumour; it’s mutated so that it loses some function in I think almost half of all tumours? Scary to think that a single protein is so important!
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Michael Schubert answered on 27 Jun 2024:
I don’t think I can choose one scariest mutation, but there are a lot that can be quite devastating because they stop your body from working in the ways it’s supposed to. Zoe’s example of p53 is one. Others might be mutations that make your immune system not work properly or stop your blood from being able to carry enough oxygen. A lot of things can go wrong – but, luckily, our bodies have amazing repair mechanisms that fix most of the mutations we encounter!
Comments
Simone commented on :
I am unsure what kind of mutation you refer to, as many things mutate constantly. But, there are a few bad bacteria out there – that are difficult to kill with normal antibiotics, so if a person gets, say a chest infection, with one of these bacteria they can end up dying.
Currently, about 700,000 in the world die each year from antimicrobial resistance. This figure is estimated to be 10 million by 2050. That is pretty scary to me.
The good news is there are lots of amazing scientists and pharmacologists working hard to find new/better treatments – perhaps you could join them! 🙂