Category Archives: Transhuman News

South African researchers and surgeons are using artificial intelligence and robotics to enhance healthcare in the country, BBC News reports.

The improvements include a video-call robot that patients can use to speak to their families without needing to be present in the room and an app currently in development that can detect tuberculosis by listening to people cough.

The technologies are also improving surgical procedures at Tygerberg hospital in Cape Town by allowing surgeons to perform precise operations via the DaVinci robot.

The surgeon controls the robot from a console in the corner, surgeon and University of Stellenbosch lecturer Dr Tim Forgan told the BBC.

One can do really fine dissection and fine work under vision, so it really is a bit of a game-changer as far as the precision of surgery goes.

Forgan added that procedures conducted with the robot result in less blood loss and makes it possible for patients to get out of hospital sooner.

The DaVinci robot used at Tygerberg Hospital is one of two in the country.

Researchers from the University of Stellenbosch are also working on an app that can determine whether someone has tuberculosis by analysing their cough.

It uses an artificial intelligence-based, machine learning approach, where we have identified parts of the audio spectrum that are linked very strongly with the presence of tuberculosis, said Grant Theron, Stellenbosch Universitys principal investigator for the molecular biology and human genetics division.

We almost want to apply [artificial intelligence] to computing devices that are available everywhere. Most commonly, this is a cellphone.

The Tygerberg hospital also implemented the use of video-call robots in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The robots are controlled by hospital staff and patients can use them to communicate with loved ones without them needing to be in the room, or even at the hospital.

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The robots and AI technologies advancing South African health care - MyBroadband

This whole genealogical effort could lead to a new genre of bumper stickers, I think, like My forefathers were Philistines or like Goliath was in my family or I come from a long line of Hittite kings or heres a good one, My ancestors killed your ancestors.

In 2001, John MacArthur delivered that line to roaring laughter from his congregation. In a sermon dealing with slavery.

This and other cringe-worthy things MacArthur has preached about race and slavery came to the attention of social media users last week when Illinois pastor Sharon Autenriethtweeted, I have just read a long sermon in which John MacArthur promoted the Curse of Ham racial theory in 2001. He was in his early 60s at the time. Can we PLEASE stop talking about this guy like hes the assistant manager to the Trinity?

In the world of conservative evangelicalism, MacArthur is held in that kind of high esteem.

After he spent three years at the notoriously segregationistBob Jones Universityfrom 1957 to 1959, he returned to Los Angeles to follow in the footsteps of his father as a pastor. He completed an undergraduate degree at Los Angeles Pacific College and a master of divinity degree at what then was the brand-new Talbot Theological Seminary.

In 1969, at age 29, he became pastor ofGrace Community Church in Los Angeles, a post he has held ever since. He also leads The Masters UniversityandThe Masters Seminary,which boasts of having graduatedmore than 1,800 men.Hes the voice of the international radio ministryGrace to You, a bestselling author and editor of more than 150 books and was named byChristianity Today as one of the 25most influential pastorsof the past 50 years.

It is impossible to overstate the power MacArthur wields and the influence he has had on shaping the world of conservative evangelicalism today.

It is impossible to overstate the power MacArthur wields and the influence he has had on shaping the world of conservative evangelicalism today.

But while many conservative evangelicals look up to MacArthur for what they consider to be his boldness in preaching the Bible through the lens of conservative evangelical Reformed Baptist theology, Autenrieths tweet opened a larger conversation about this influential pastors views on race and slavery and the Bible.

Scott Coley, who serves on the philosophy faculty at Mount St. Marys University, retweetedAutenrieth andwent on to add: John MacArthur has been at the forefront of the anti-justice movement within white evangelicalism (which has spilled over into right wing politics at large). And here he is, using the Bible to craft a myth that legitimizes racial hierarchy. He and his colleagues deny that systemic racism is to blame for racial disparities in wealth, income and opportunity. So what explains such disparities? According to John MacArthur, its the curse of Canaan. Not incidentally, 10 out of 10 white supremacist theologians used *precisely* this logic to justify race-based, chattel slavery in the 19th century, as did segregationists in the 20th century. Whatever you do, stop listening to John MacArthur. He regularly manipulates Scripture to legitimize his own extra-biblical social agenda.

Sociologist Samuel Perry of the University of Oklahomatweeted, Wow. Just one of the most famous contemporary evangelical radio preachers and authors promoting the Curse of Ham like it was 1850.

In a series of sermons from Genesis preached during the summer of 2001, MacArthur laid out the case that many white supremacists have used throughout history to promote racism and defend slavery.

He began by sharing the story ofNoah getting nakedin his tent after the flood, discovering that his son Ham had seen him, and cursing Hams son Canaan to be a servant of servants to his brothers. MacArthur pointed out that Canaan would serve Shem, while Japheth would be enlarged.

MacArthur laid out the case that many white supremacists have used throughout history to promote racism and defend slavery.

He then moved into a discussion of Israels destruction of the Canaanites. And while many conservative evangelicals try to findother waysto describe the Canaanite conquest than to call it genocide, MacArthur is totally fine setting aside his own humanity and embracing it as genocide.

To any normal person, the thought of genocide, going in and massacring an entire population of people, was a frightening thing, he said. Natural human affections would cause some revulsion against such a command. It must have been a very, very severe challenge to their righteousness thinking to see themselves going into a land and committing genocide. Its massacring the Canaanites. Taking their land, taking their homes, and taking their lives.

The reason MacArthur gave to justify this genocide was that Canaan and his progeny was cursed. And so when Israel heard this read, they knew they had a cursed ancestry, and that they were acting on the basis of divine judgment which had already been determined, giving them historical justification for being the instrument of judgment on Canaan.

As Brock Bahler, a philosophy of religion professor at the University of Pittsburgh,points out, in the Middle Ages, a dominant map of the world in Europe was the T-O map that associated three known continents Africa, Europe & Asia w/ Noahs three sons. This doesnt become racialized until after [the] colonial era.

He claimed Shems descendants are Semites who became the Jews.

He claimed Shems descendants are Semites who became the Jews.

And what of the cursed descendants of Ham?MacArthur confidently proclaimed: If you study the territory of Ham, the territory of Canaan coming from Ham, it included Sodom and Gomorrah afterward, the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad. Wicked, wicked people. Corrupt and corrupting. Then the following week,MacArthur added, Ham settles the south: Africa and to Asia.

During a Q&A session from 2010, somebody asked MacArthur how we have so many races. And according to the text from the Grace to You website, MacArthur responded, It seems that Ham became a more servile people and may have moved south and wound up in Africa.

However, the audio version of MacArthurs response does not include that section. Either somebody from Grace to You added that section to the text of the page when MacArthur never said those words, or MacArthur did indeed say them and somebody edited those words out of the audio version. So it would seem that Grace to You either has something to add or hide regarding MacArthurs views about race.

Bahler goes on to describehow biblical literalists came up with all kinds of wild theories to get white supremacy to work w/ the Bible, with some claiming that Blackness was the curse of Cain, others calling it the curse of Ham, and others claiming skin color was determined by a divine act created at the Tower of Babel.

MacArthur decided to go with all of the above, while mixing in his own shot ofpseudoscience.

All human beings came from Adam through Noah, which means that all there is in the genetic code for all human races was in Adam and Eve, and all that there is of genetic coding that is in all the races that exist today was in the family of Noah, MacArthur assumed. That has all kinds of interesting implications because in the world you have so much diversity: you have very dark-skinned people, very light-skinned people. You have various features of certain kinds of people that are identifiable: Caucasoid, Negroid, Austrailoid, etcetera Mongoloid particular descriptions of physical features. And you have all these differences in skin color, and all these differences in facial look and body design. And the question is often asked, Where did this diversity come from? And the answer is the genetic code for all of that was in Adam and Eve. And the genetic code for all of the humanity in all of its diversity today was in the family of Noah. Everyone from pygmies and dwarves and aborigines to seven-foot-two Zulus and basketball players came from Noah and his wife. All physical features, all skin colors, all physical characteristics, all eye shapes, noses, eye colors, hair colors, etcetera all the necessary genetic coding was in Adam and Eve, and all of it was in those eight people.

And whatever the features were that God designed, in his sovereignty, in those genetic groups then became normalized in those groups. And so, various characteristics began to appear.

Unfortunately, MacArthur suggested, because humanity supposedly lived as one big family with no barriers to marriage, there was very little diversity in skin color. In order to get diversity in skin color, Youd have to pull people off and isolate them, and then they would begin to be dominated by the genetic features that are within that people group. The Tower of Babel did that. God separated the languages, scattered the people all over the planet, and they were isolated. And whatever the features were that God designed, in his sovereignty, in those genetic groups then became normalized in those groups. And so, various characteristics began to appear.

He added inanother Q&A session, Now, though, I believe the direct act of God, God distinguished between those people. At the Tower of Babel, God scattered all those nations, scattered all those people. And I believe in scattering them, he developed, by his own supernatural, providential will, distinctive characteristics of those people to identify them uniquely to their own areas and their own culture. In other words, God was trying to eliminate amalgamation and make them distinct. And I think there is some adaptation isnt there? Darker-skinned people living in areas where the sun was more severe. I dont think thats a process of evolution; I think that was a supernatural act on Gods part. So, the answer to your question is God made the races the way they are, and God put them in certain places of the world and adapted them to that in a distinction.

In an odd statementthat seemed to reflect Bob Jones Universitys historical ban on interracial marriage, MacArthur said the Assyrians became racially mixed, even though elsewhere he denied opposing interracial marriage.

MacArthur tried to say that because we all descended from Noah, we really are one family. There shouldnt be any racism. But the way he separated African descendants as cursed by God to serve European descendants might suggest otherwise.

In addition to his dehumanizing pseudoscience, MacArthur has also given rather offensive descriptions of people. Hespoke ofpygmies in Africa and primitive people that have painted their faces with some kind of plant these people that run around stabbing pigs in the jungle naked.

And lest were unclear about what MacArthur thinks about nakedness, he proclaims, Nakedness leads to wickedness. Nakedness leads to vice, every imaginable and unimaginable kind. Nudists, primitive people, exhibitionists, pornographers they all advocate nakedness as if it was a virtue.

It would be one thing if MacArthur simply interpreted the Bible as a slavery promoting document from two to three millennia ago. But he wants to use that interpretation to defend slavery today.

In 2001, MacArthur declared: The curse falls on Canaan. And the curse is that he would be a servant of servants, and he would wind up enslaved under the dominant rulership of others. And here we find that in Gods purposes, children of Ham through Canaan would be servants to the descendants of Japheth and Shem. He added that their descendants are doomed to perpetual slavery because they followed the moral turpitude of their ancestors, Ham and Canaan.

Here we find that in Gods purposes, children of Ham through Canaan would be servants to the descendants of Japheth and Shem.

In a 2012 YouTube video, MacArthur showed his true colors, stating: It is a little strange that we have such an aversion to slavery because historically there have been abuses. There have been abuses in marriage. We dont have an aversion to marriage particularly because there have been abuses. There are parents who abuse their children. We dont have an aversion to having children because some parents have been abusive. To throw out slavery as a concept simply because there have been abuses, I think, is to miss the point . There can also be benefits. For many people, poor people, perhaps people who werent educated, perhaps people who had no other opportunity, working for a gentle, caring, loving master was the best of all possible worlds. So we have to go back and take a more honest look at slavery and understand that God has, in a sense, legitimized it when its handled correctly. Slavery is not objectionable if you have the right master. Its the perfect scenario.

In one sermon, MacArthur described the descendants of Japheth whom he identified as Europeans as being in a peaceful partnership with Shem. Is it any wonder then why MacArthur would happen to promote dispensational theologies of the end times as well as popular Republican policies regarding Israel?

When President Donald Trump moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2017,he declared at a rally, And we moved the capital of Israel to Jerusalem. Thats for the evangelicals. You know, its amazing with that the evangelicals are more excited by that than Jewish people.

In a Q&A about dispensationalism, MacArthur joked, People used to say of me that his hope is built on nothing less than Scofields notes and Moody Press. He went onto explain, Theres a difference between the church and Israel. Period. That demands a kingdom. And that makes you pre-millennial. The promises of a kingdom to Israel have to come to pass. And thats why you have to have a kingdom.

In other words, MacArthurs theology that white people are descendants of Japheth who are in a peaceful partnership with Israel as the descendants of Shem, combined with his theology that Israel must have a literal kingdom has led him to use the full force of his own media kingdom to promote political policies among evangelicals that would affect the decisions of President Trump.

Japheth is enlarged, as a peaceful partnership with Shem, and is served by Canaan whos a descendant of Ham.

And where are the descendants of Ham whom MacArthur identifies as Africans in all of this? According to MacArthur, Japheth is enlarged, as a peaceful partnership with Shem, and is served by Canaan whos a descendant of Ham.

For MacArthur, slavery appears to be more than simply a secondary issue Christians can disagree about. He believes slavery is central. In fact, he believes slavery is the gospel. So for MacArthur to reject slavery would be to reject the gospel.

InThe Gospel According to Jesus, MacArthur said, The gospel is an invitation to slavery.

He added inanother article, The Bible is abundantly clear slavery is the heart of what it means to be a true Christian. Slavery to Christ is not a minor or secondary feature of true discipleship. It is exactly how Jesus himself defined the personal relationship he must have with every true follower. In fact, the fundamental aspects of slavery are the very features of redemption. We are chosen, bought, owned, subject to his will and control, called to account, evaluated, and either chastened or rewarded by him. Those are all essential components of slavery.

Since Jesus said he came to set the oppressed free, one might assume MacArthur would desire to see slaves set free.

But instead,MacArthur says: Christianity does not free slaves. Christianity does not give equal social rights. Jesus did not propound equal rights and he did not upset the social order. Neither did Peter, neither did Paul, neither did John, neither did any New Testament writer.Rather, they all affirmed that with great fear of God and great respect you are to be submissive to your masters, whether theyre good and gentle or whether they are unreasonable. You are to submit.

Jesus did not propound equal rights and he did not upset the social order. Neither did Peter, neither did Paul, neither did John, neither did any New Testament writer.

InThe MacArthur New Testament Commentary, he continued: Although slavery was carefully regulated under Mosaic law, neither the Old nor New Testaments condemns slavery as such. Social strata are recognized and even designed by God for mans good. Some people will be served, and some will serve others. New Testament teaching does not focus on reforming and restructuring human systems.

And for those who might wish to reform such systems, MacArthur objects: Nowhere in Scripture is rebellion or revolution justified in order to gain freedom, opportunity or economic, social or political rights. The emphasis is rather on the responsibility of slaves to serve their human masters faithfully and fully.

Human rights seem to mean nothing to MacArthur.He says there is no place for asserting our rights. Its not our concern to have rights in this world. It is our concern to be obedient and submissive in this world. If youre a slave when youre saved, stay a slave. The system stands.

Of course, MacArthur admits slave masters can be abusive. But to those who suffer under physical abuse and starvation,he advises: Now heres a guy in the workplace and hes a slave.And in the Roman world he might be getting whipped unjustly.He might be getting deprived of his food unjustly.He might be working long hours beyond what is reasonable unjustly. He might be punished in a number of ways unjustly.But if for the sake of his consciousness of God he endures all of those sorrows, God is thankful.Did you get that?What pleases God?When you protest?When you strike?When you picket?When you walk out?No, what pleases God, what finds favor with him is when you bear up under the sorrows that come when you suffer unjustly.That pleases God.

What pleases God, what finds favor with him is when you bear up under the sorrows that come when you suffer unjustly.

Given the amount of sheer absurdities that pour from MacArthurs mouth, one might wonder if hes simply ignorant of history, genetics and edifying language. But MacArthur isnt ignorant. He knows full well what hes doing. He brags about studying anthropologists, linguists and scientists.

John MacArthur is pastorally careless. He is a pastor with decades of experience. He should have the pastoral wisdom to know you dont say the things hes said about race and slavery in a country thats given itself over so much to racism and slavery.

John MacArthur is a racist. His entire framing of world history and the gospel itself as Gods slavery design where Africans are to serve Europeans in perpetuity, while the Europeans are enlarged and in partnership with Israel, is a sacralization of racism and white supremacy.

John MacArthur is a dangerous man. Heclaims, The facts that are here are potent and greatly informative to those of us who want to understand the world the way God views it. To MacArthur, the curse of Ham wasnt merely part of a dispensation in the past or the way God used to work, but a revelation into how God presently views the world.

Notice his use of the word potent.

Thats what all of this is about. Its not about unleashing Gods truth one verse at a time. Its aboutMacArthurs power.

When MacArthur told Beth Moore to go home, he said of women who want to be pastors, They want power, not equality. This is the highest location they can ascend to that power in the evangelical church.

In that quote, MacArthur revealed his own cards. He identified how he sees his role as a pastor. To him, the office of being an evangelical pastor is an ascension to power. In MacArthurs world, he is the master to whom others must submit.

The reason MacArthur so easily sets aside the humanity of others is that he is disconnected from his own humanity. And his disconnection from self poses a very real threat to all of us through every power wielder his empire sends out.

John MacArthur has built an entire theology that glorifies slavery and defends genocide against a people group he claims must serve Europeans and Israel in perpetuity. His dispensationalist theology brings his views of slavery in the Bible through today all the way to the end of the world. And he has showed during the COVID crisis that he believes he is above the law. Its time his charade of a ministry be exposed and shut down. Its time for MacArthur to go home.

Rick Pidcockis a 2004 graduate of Bob Jones University, with a bachelor of arts degree in Bible. Hes a freelance writer based in South Carolina and a former Clemons Fellow with BNG. He recently completed a master of arts degree in worship from Northern Seminary. He is a stay-at-home father of five children and produces music under the artist name Provoke Wonder. Follow his blog atwww.rickpidcock.com.

Related articles:

The curse of Ham: Black Baptists question their place in the SBC | Opinion by Alan Bean

Are Black people cursed? | Opinion by Charles Holley

How John MacArthur loves the Bible but not his neighbor | Analysis by Rick Pidcock

Neither democracy nor religious freedom are biblical concepts, John MacArthur declares

John MacArthur rallies pastors to preach against government bans on conversion therapy Jan. 16

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What has John MacArthur actually said about race, slavery and the Curse of Ham? - Baptist News Global

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First, it was a doppelgnger of the late Lee Kuan Yew; now, a Gen Z lookalike of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong has gone viral on social media.

A Singaporean TikTok user named Cyrus easily morphs into a photo of Mr Wong because of their striking resemblance.

It has been about two months since the teenager has been morphing (a TikTok shapeshift effect that transforms a persons face into their alleged celebrity or prominent person lookalike) into Mr Wong, in hopes of the minister finally noticing him.

Photo: TikTok screengrab/teocyrus

Needless to say, the bespectacled teen does look like Mr Wong; hence he has been dubbed the Lawrence Wong Gen Z version.

In one of Cyrus latest videos, netizens began poking fun that he was the long-lost son of Mr Wong.

@lawrencewongst brois this your son? asked TikTok user @junee.

Many also took the time to make requests, such as can reduce GST (Goods and Services Tax) and petrol price or sir, can increase budget for 2022?

So how much does Cyrus look like Mr Wong? Here are a few comparisons.

Photo: TikTok screengrab/teocyrus

Photo: TikTok screengrab/teocyrus

It appears that Mr Wong might have caught wind of Cyrus efforts because he uploaded a video on TikTok revealing how he looked like while he was in Secondary 4.

I understand some on TikTok have done #morphing videos of me. So heres one from my social media team, said Mr Wong.

Photo: TikTok screengrab/lawrencewongst

According to an article by Sunway, the chances of someone looking exactly like someone theyre not related to is about one in one trillion.

Theres definitely a mathematical chance for two doppelgngers to exist, but its highly unlikely, said University of Adelaide biologist Teghan Lucas who conducted a study on the doppelgnger occurrence.

The human face is extraordinarily unique. I mean think about it. The chance has to be quite low otherwise, you would be bumping into people who looked like you all the time, and you dont, added Sir Walter Bodmer, a professor of human genetics from the University of Oxford./TISG

Reply to @theresalwaysabeeliverinu Started as a joke but I dont think its a joke anymore #fy #fyp #shapeshift

dis it is

Lee Kuan Yew lookalike seen at coffeeshop, netizens say, Hes back!

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Gen Z version of Lawrence Wong spotted, netizens joke he's a long-lost son - The Independent

Despite big improvements in survival, cancer is still one of the worlds biggest killers. Leading Cancer Research UK-funded scientists explain why it presents such a challenge and look at how far weve come

Written by Natalie Grover for Guardian Labs

Part of a pancreatic tumour seen down a microscope, with tumour cells labelled in green, and different types of immune cell in pink, yellow, red, and turquoise. Image credit: Silvia Cusumano, Assya Legrini, Leah Officer-Jones, Dr Nigel Jamison and Prof John La Quesne

Recent decades have yielded extraordinary progress in cancer survival, but many cancers remain deadly, with half of people diagnosed dying within 10 years. So why hasnt science found a way to cure more people yet?

A major challenge is that scientists arent in fact targeting a single disease but a constellation of hundreds of diseases that are lumped together under the umbrella classification of cancer. This came about because all cancers start in the same way, with mutations in genes that control cell function.

Such mutations can fuel the unfettered replication of a single cell. If conditions are right, the cell grows and divides, escalating to millions of cells that may clump together to form a tumour in which no two tumour cells are identical in a single tumour.

I might have been pessimistic that we would ever be able to control these rapidly multiplying clumps of cells, says Prof Sir Mike Stratton, director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and a genetics expert.

But time and again, the achievements of cancer research have mitigated that pessimism and converted it to optimism. It isnt that one drug will wipe the whole lot [of cancers] off the map, but bit by bit we are eroding the mortality rates of many cancers.

Stratton, leader of the Cancer Grand Challenges Mutographs team, which is working on a 20m project to look for unknown causes of cancer, adds: Were learning that research finding out what is actually going on in cancer cells is the route to new strategies for undermining the ability of cancer cells to behave in the way that they do.

While cancers may start in the same way, decades of research have shown that they evolve into very different diseases requiring a panoply of treatments. So far, scientists have classified more than 200 types of cancer, and found a myriad of genetic mutations underlying them.

Out of around 20,000 genes in the human genome, between 500 and 1,000 have been identified as contributing, when mutated, to a cell becoming cancerous. There is, however, a set of cancers for which the genes are still unclear, says Stratton, who is credited with identifying the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2 among others.

Its tempting to think that the way forward is to target all the genes known to be implicated in cancer by launching 500-plus drug development programmes.

But not only is this a huge task, its by no means certain that the drugs developed would be the answer to curing the different cancers. This is because tumours develop considerable genetic diversity as they evolve, and often become resistant to treatments as more mutations occur in cells.

Targeted therapies have been approved for a range of cancers including breast, liver and lung cancers, and are helping more people to live longer. For now, though, the search for more precision treatments goes on. There is a set of cancer genes that are switched off by their own mutations, Stratton says. So how do we use those genes in order to develop new therapies?

Cancer cells growing in 2D, labelled with fluorescent markers showing the cells nuclei in blue, their cytoplasm in red, and areas of DNA damage in green. Image credit: Getty Image

Drug resistance is one of the biggest challenges in cancer thats why its so important to diagnose cancers early when treatment is more likely to be successful, says our chief clinician Prof Charles Swanton, group leader at the Francis Crick Institute, co-director of the charitys Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence and a consultant at University College London Hospitals (UCLH).

Early diagnosis isnt always possible, for a range of reasons. For example, there are very few techniques that can detect small, early tumours, and some cancers simply dont trigger symptoms early enough until they have already spread (or metastasised) and it is at this stage that the oncologists toolkit of drugs often falls short.

Each cancer has a different suite of signals which its responding to

Robert Insall, professor of mathematical and computational biology

To help uncover the tricks that tumours deploy to evolve, spread and develop drug resistance, we are supporting the TRACERx clinical study for which Swanton is chief investigator. By following the progress of hundreds of patients with the most common form of lung cancer from the point of diagnosis onwards, the study views cancer through an evolutionary lens, and uses a vast array of cutting-edge techniques to monitor participants disease.

According to Swanton, the lessons already learned from tracking these patients are applicable to many types of cancer. For instance, the study has shown that tumours with a high level of genetic diversity have the worst clinical outcomes, and that tumours use an assortment of ploys to elude the immune system, including losing the flags on their cell surface that enable them to be recognised as problematic.

Overall, says Swanton, the major barriers to successfully treating metastatic cancer are the genetic diversity within tumours, the evolutionary fitness of cancer cells that allows them to adapt, and of increasing focus the ways tumours modify their local microenvironment to support their survival.

The tumour microenvironment is composed of non-malignant cells that have been hijacked by cancer cells to support and nourish the tumour. This allows the cancer to smother the bodys immune defence.

Prof Fran Balkwill

Typically, half of the cells that make up a tumour are non-cancerous, and include fibroblasts (for structural support), fat cells and endothelial cells (which can form blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients, and eliminate waste), says Prof Fran Balkwill, whose work at the Barts Cancer Institute in London centres on the links between cancer and inflammation.

Better understanding of this microenvironment and potentially reprogramming it could restrict nourishment of this cancerous rogue organ and reawaken the bodys immune cells to recognise and destroy it.

Already this ecosystem of hijacked normal cells within tumours is being targeted by cancer treatments, whether immunotherapy or chemotherapy, says Balkwill, noting that it is likely that treatments in the future will be combinations of drugs that target malignant cells and this microenvironment.

What makes cancer ultimately so dangerous, however, is the suite of signals that induce it to move beyond its primary site into the blood, lymphatic system or other tissues.

Robert Insall, professor of mathematical and computational biology.

Typically, chemical signals steer a cancer cell to move in a particular direction, but in many cases we dont know what they are, says Robert Insall, professor of mathematical and computational cell biology at the our Beatson Institute in Glasgow. So, if youre looking at this theme of why isnt cancer cured yet, its because each cancer has a different suite of signals which its responding to.

In the case of melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer, Insalls research suggests that the cancer cells themselves make their own spreading signals, creating the local instructions that direct them to spread.

Other kinds of skin cancer are not nearly as scary because they either dont, or rarely, spread. And one of the reasons is that they are not primed to drive themselves outwards in the same way, he says. My suspicion is that the most metastatic, the most deadly, cancers have this same property [as melanoma].

Reprogramming a tumours microenvironment could reawaken the bodys immune cells to destroy it

Professor Fran Balkwill

Insights such as Insalls continue to inform research into the biology of cancer, building on the decades of endeavour that have gone before. This burgeoning knowledge has transformed the way doctors diagnose and treat cancers in the UK, for instance, survival rates have doubled in the past 40 years for all cancers combined. On this journey to cure patients with cancer, says Swanton, I think were about half way there.

Part of an ovarian tumour viewed down a microscope, with cancer cells in blue and immune cells in brown Barts Cancer Institute

The second half of this odyssey demands further research. Research that will not just benefit the cancer patients of tomorrow, but is keeping hope alive for people affected by cancer now who may have limited or no treatment options if their cancer progresses.

Eileen Rapley, a participant in the TRACERx study who is being treated at UCLH, and who has also been receiving an immunotherapy drug that has so far kept her cancer at bay, says: When youre diagnosed with cancer and youre suddenly very dependent on other people, being able to contribute something makes it a little more palatable. You feel that at least this cancer is having a positive effect rather than a negative one.

But funding for this type of lifesaving research has come under considerable strain, in large part due to the pandemic, with CRUK needing to reduce its planned spending for 2022-23 from 400m to 300m.

Maintaining investment in cancer research and getting back to where we were in 2017, 2018 and 2019 is going to be absolutely crucial, says Swanton.

We are now getting to the point of being able to personalise medicines given to patients upon the genetic basis of their disease, he says. But we need new medicines to circumvent and overcome drug resistance in cancers that have spread, and new approaches to detect small, early stage tumours, and treat them before they become malignant thats where some of the major advances are going to come from over the next five decades.

This article was originally published on theguardian.com as part of the Cancer Research UK and Guardian Labs Cancer revolutionaries campaign.

To dig deeper into why we havent cured cancer, we heard from Dr Alanna Skuse, Dr Mariam Jamal-Hanjani and Sir Leszek Borysiewicz in the latest episode of our podcast That Cancer Conversation.

From Egyptian mummies and medieval wolves, to precision medicine and microscopic evolution, we take a look at the past to find out why curing cancer is more complex than we think, and what is needed next to get us closer to a future without cancer.

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Why havent we cured cancer? - Cancer Research UK News