An interesting article today on Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, the disease my wife has in remission thanks to Gleevec.
CML in its chronic phase can be treated with Gleevec and most patients respond well to it. But unfortunately, some do not. The disease can progress to what is called ‘blast phase’ where things go from bad to worse in a hurry.
Today’s article has to do with an apparent discovery of the cause for the transition from chronic to blast phase. Here it is:
They found that chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) progresses when immature white blood cells lose a molecule called miR-328.
That’s it. The white blood cells lose ONE MOLECULE. (The disease is initially caused by a mutation resulting from one part of one chromosome breaking off and reattaching itself to the DNA in a different spot on the chain.)
That isn’t much of a big deal to kill you, eh? One chromosome mutates and soon you have a chronic and life threatening disease. Left untreated, after some time, one white blood cell loses ONE molecule (and then many follow), and suddenly you are in blast phase. And shortly after that, if untreated, you are gone from this world.
A couple of observations:
- Are their any good mutations? How can anyone believe that chance can produce any beneficial change in any organism that is then perpetuated to new generations? Every part of our body is essential. All it takes to kill you is one chromosome change and one molecule loss. Mutations are not good.
- What a mighty God we serve! He designed us, in all our complexity, to live as we do in a complex, interdependent world. His mind conceived it all. Though the struggle with cancer can be daunting and is often tragic, it ought to remind us of how great God is.
P.S., I am working on an article to follow up my ‘godliness’ post a few days ago. It is getting longer and longer as I work. Maybe it should be more than one post. It will definitely become a series in our Bible Study time at our church. I think the idea of godliness (godly living) is vital for Christians in our world. So more is coming… in the meantime I am putting up links to things that interest me…
Although I agree with you in large measure, I think you are not taking one thing into account (or at least dealing with it here) — life as we know it now is affected by the fall. I’m sure that compared to what life was when God declared it good, there are no good mutations. However, what we are now is NOT what God declared good, and with our cursed bodies, it has been shown that there are some mutations that are at least good for something specific. Reference this article for one such:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/322/5908/1702
Of course, I don’t believe such mutations lead to better or different forms of life. For all we know the referenced mutation is actually closer to what humans were like pre-fall. There’s no way for us to know that. However, in our current fallen condition, I do believe that occasionally some mutations may be discovered that have the possibility to be an improvement over the condition of the general population post fall.
Hi Dave
That is true, I think it is possible that some mutations might be beneficial. But are they passed on from generation to generation?
In any case, I think the whole complexity of human life where a loss of one molecule throws everything out of whack speaks loudly about creation and the Creator.
Thanks for the comment.
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jerimiah 33.3