Cancer Biology: Oncogenes, Tumour Suppressors, and Multistep Carcinogenesis
Students will investigate the causes of climate change, focusing on the greenhouse effect and human activities, and its biological impacts.
About This Topic
Students will investigate the causes of climate change, focusing on the greenhouse effect and human activities, and its biological impacts.
Key Questions
- Explain how gain-of-function mutations in proto-oncogenes and loss-of-function mutations in tumour suppressor genes disrupt normal cell cycle control, applying the two-hit hypothesis to explain the recessive nature of tumour suppressor loss at the cellular level.
- Analyse the hallmarks of cancer, sustained proliferative signalling, evasion of apoptosis, induction of angiogenesis, and activation of invasion and metastasis, as consequences of cumulative somatic mutations, evaluating how each hallmark represents a targetable vulnerability.
- Evaluate the clonal selection model of tumour progression, explaining how successive rounds of mutation and natural selection within a growing tumour drive the stepwise acquisition of increasingly malignant phenotypes.
Active Learning Ideas
See all activities→Activities & Teaching Strategies
See all activities
Planning templates for Biology
More in Biological Systems and the Environment
Ecology: Interactions in Ecosystems
Students will be introduced to the principles of ecology, exploring the interactions between organisms and their environment.
8 methodologies
Non-Cyclic Photophosphorylation: Photosystem II, Z-Scheme Electron Flow, and Oxygen Evolution
Students will investigate how energy flows through ecosystems, constructing food chains and food webs to illustrate trophic levels.
8 methodologies
Cyclic Photophosphorylation and Regulation of the Light-Dependent Reactions
Students will explore ecological pyramids to understand the quantitative relationships between trophic levels in terms of energy, biomass, and numbers.
8 methodologies
The Calvin Cycle: Carbon Fixation, GP Reduction, and RuBP Regeneration
Students will investigate the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and water, understanding their importance for sustaining life on Earth.
8 methodologies
Limiting Factors in Photosynthesis: Light, CO₂ Concentration, and Temperature
Students will explore the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, understanding their critical roles in nutrient availability for ecosystems.
8 methodologies
Mutations: Molecular Types, Mutagenic Mechanisms, and DNA Repair
Students will understand the concept of biodiversity, its importance for ecosystem stability, and the major threats it faces.
8 methodologies