Cancer Research And Early Discoveries

By Jason Myers

In the year 1938, the cancer scientist and researcher in the person of Paul Gerhardt Seeger, M.D., disclosed that the real cause of the cancerous degeneration of a cell is traced from from the destruction of a specific respiratory enzyme, cytochrome oxidase. In other words, cell malignancy is caused by disturbance of oxygen usage, or cell respiration.

Dr. Seeger implemented experimentations with hundreds of histo-chemical methods in the Department of Cell and Virus Research in the Robert Koch Institute of Berlin, Germany. Later findings at Humbolt University in Berlin in 1956, after approximately ten years of work at Charite Hospital, corroborated his earlier research results of 1938. What Dr. Seeger discovered was that deactivation or damage of the enzyme cytochrome oxidase triggers a dysfunction of the metabolism in the early phases of energy generation in the mitochondria.

Mitochondria complete their task of generating energy thru an oxygen intensive process called oxidative phosphorylation. Through a series of biochemical reactions, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are broken down into smaller units. Carbon dioxide and hydrogen are discharged along the way. The carbon dioxide, a form of toxic waste, is quickly removed. The hydrogen ion is taken by the electron transport chain, ultimately meeting up with molecular oxygen to produce a water by product . The energy sourced out from our food components is then saved in the form of a universal energy molecule other wise known as adenosine-triphosphate (ATP).

When the enzyme cytochrome oxidase is deactivated or destroyed, excess hydrogen piles up in the cell as oxidative phosphorylation comes to a halt. The cell still requires energy, however, and is forced to switch over to a low efficient method of energy synthesis taking place in the area around cytoplasm. This results in the conversion of only about 20% of the possible energy that could be supplied, and only about a fifth of possible ATP storage. Less energy is generated for the cell's use, and less energy is stored.

With the cell's main energy generators, syntheses now significantly diminished, the groundwork is laid for cancerous degeneration. Any troubles involving the operation and functioning of the mitochondria have a negative effect on all energy-requiring functions of our body. More than just the cell in which the malfunctioning mitochondria is located can be affected, the lowered vitality can also have on impact on other organs, or even the entire body. - 30285

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