Cancer and uncontrolled cell division Original Scenario-Based Download PDF

Questions

1. 1.

   During a deep-space voyage, bioengineers cultivate synthetic living tissue designed to heal damaged hull plating by dividing strictly until a monolayer makes contact with surrounding boundaries in the presence of an external chemical stimulant. Unexpectedly, a mutated sub-line begins piling into chaotic multi-layered heaps that divide endlessly even after the external stimulant is completely washed out of the nutrient bath. Which cellular anomaly best accounts for this rogue tissue displaying autonomous and unrestrained proliferation?

   • A) Persistent hyperactivation of the p53 tumor-suppressor pathway that locks the population at the G1 checkpoint
   • B) Complete silencing of the telomerase enzyme that leads to critical chromosomal erosion and replicative senescence
   • C) Overexpression of cadherin adhesion complexes that reinforces density-dependent growth inhibition
   • D) A gain-of-function oncogenic mutation causing autonomous signaling alongside the loss of contact inhibition