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       Combating cancer’s conversations

Cancer(subject) is usually presented as a problem(singular noun) of cells becoming mindless(adj)  replicators, proliferating without purpose or restraint. But that image underestimates the foe(direct object), according to a new paper. The authors(subject) argue that we(personal pronoun)’ll stand a better chance of combating cancer if we recognise that tumour cells are(linking verb) a lot smarter and functional like a co-operating community.

One of the authors, physicist Eshel Ben-Jacob(proper noun) of Tel Aviv University in Israel, has argued for some time that many single-celled(adj) organisms, whether they are tumour cells or gut bacteria(plural noun), show(transitive verb) a rudimentary(adj) form of social intelligence – an ability to act collectively in ways that adapt to the prevailing conditions, learn from experience and solve problems, all with the “aim” of improving their chances of survival. He even believes(intransitive verb) there is evidence that they can modify their own genomes(direct object) in beneficial ways(adverb of manner).

Some of these ideas are controversial, but others(indefinite pronoun) are undeniable. One of the classic examples of a single-celled co-operator, the soil-dwelling slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum, survives a lack of warmth or moisture by sending out pulses of a chemical from cells, which(relative pronoun) attracts other cells to move towards them and clump together into multi-celled bodies that look like weird mushrooms(plural noun). Some of these cells become spores, entering into a kind of suspended animation(participial phrase) until conditions improve.

Many bacteria(subject) can engage in similar feats of communication and coordination, which can produce(action verb) complex colony shapes such as vortex-like circulating blobs or exotic branching patterns. These displays of “social intelligence” help the colonies survive adversity, sometimes to our cost. Biofilms, for example – robust, slimy surface coatings that harbour bacteria and can spread infection in hospitals(place adverb) – are manufactured through the co-operation of several different species.

But as cyberwarfare experts know, disrupting communications(gerund phrase) can be deadly, and the same social intelligence that helps bacteria thrive(dependent clause) can be manipulated to attack pathogenic varieties(independent clause). Some strategies for tackling dangerous bacteria now(time adverb) target their cell-to-cell communications, for example by introducing false signals that might induce cells to eat one another or to dissolve biofilms. So it pays to know what they’re saying to one another(indefinite pronoun).

Ben-Jacob(proper noun), along with Donald Coffey of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and “biological physicist” Herbert Levine of Rice University in Houston, Texas, think(state verb) that we should be approaching cancer therapy this way too: not by aiming to kill off tumour cells with lethal doses of poisons or radiation(comman noun), but by interrupting their conversations.