Malignant squad
GENES
•Mary Claire King, a University of California geneticist, discovered the breast cancer gene BRCA1, which lies on chromosome 17
•Two groups simultaneously discovered the 2 genes, HMSH2 and hMLHI, which cause hereditary colon cancers
VIRUSES
•The Epstein-Barr virus, closely related to the herpes virus, is associated with cancers of the nose and throat
•A virus similar to the monkey virus SV40 has been found in the tissues of several people with mesotheiioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos
•The HIV virus contributes to several cancers. In rarer form of lymphoma, HiV inserts itself directly into human DNA
•The human papillomavirus has been detected in head and neck cancers
BACTERIA
•Heliobacter pylori, known to be associated with stomach ulcers, may be responsible for a rare stomach cancer, gastric non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Patients were six times likelier to be infected by this bacteria