Evening star., 1940-04-24
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.


The swastika, symbol of hate anc
death that now flies along a lin,
between democracy and tyranny
from Switzerland to the Arctic Cir.
Gle. is also the signature of the most
dreaded enemy of human life itsel1
cancer.
. Unconsciously the Reich has Sc.
lected the emblem of the invisible
destroyer, according to a report tt
the National Academy of Science.
here yesterday by DR.. D. F. Jone.
of the Connecticut State Agricul.
tura1 station.
Normally countless millions oi
cells of which living organism is
composed continue to reproduce each
other exactly during the life of the
individual. Brain cells reproduce
brain cells, liver cells reproduce liver
cells. In the same way, among
plants, bark cells reproduce bark
cells and leaf cells reproduce leaf
cells. The organism. man or petunia
is constantly dying, cell by cell, and
constantly being reborn
Many "Causes" of Cancer.
For some reason not understood
normal cells occasionally are born
which do not fit into the pattern
brain cells that do not fit into the
structure of the brain, leaf cells
which do not it'into the structure
of the leaf. These are outlaw cells in
the government of the organism,
and they constitute cancer. Unless
their progress can be stopped they
are certain to kill the whole of
which they form an anarchistic
part. The longer one lives the
greater che probability that some
such cells will appear.
1t is known that there are many
"causes" of cancer 1t may be set
off by x-rays, radium. 40 or so
known chemicals, hormones, viruses
germs, irritation. 1t may appear
without any traceable cause. sup
posedly from some hereditary weak
ness of the organism. The funda-
mental cause, in any event, is that
the cell does not reproduce itself ex-
actly any longer and hence does not
fit into respectable biological So
ciety.
Each cell consists of a nucleus sur
rounded by a medium known as
cytoplasm. 1t reproduces by dividing
The division starts with the nucleus
in which are the chromosomes
These. sometimes visible under the
microscope. are usually like strings
of beads, each bead being a gene
one of the units of heredity. Thus
there may be a gene, or combination
of them, that determines color of
the eyes, and another that deter
mines length of the arms. Each cell,
plant or animal contains the num-
ber of chromosomes characteristic of
the species.
May Bring Mutations.
It is known that the very same
agencies that produce cancer. such
as X-rays, may when applied to the
germ cells of species result in a
mutation and the birth of a new
kind of plant or animal. DR.. Jones
reported to the National Academy
on the relocations in chromosomes
in the seeds of corn caused by va
rious agencies.
He found that there is a notable
relocation in chromosome parts, not
visible in the cells of animals usual
ly used in cancer investigations.
The new evidence, he said, shows
that such arrangements may re-
suit in permanent alterations in
growth activity as well as in color,
size, shape and composition of cells.
Thus the same process that is in
volved in the formation of new
species of living organisms also
produces new kinds of cells in
somatic tissues and these new cells
may become independent of normal
control.
up to the present it has been
considered generally that chromo-
somal alterations are the result and
not the cause of abnormal growth
This is true for the gross chromo-
somal alterations visible in somatic
cells, but these have obscured sig
nificant alterations that are re-