THE TUMOR
self-destruction later, but obviously the end result for a person
with tumors is that self-destruction did not keep up with cell
division, and a small mass formed.
Cell Mutations
Meanwhile, as the cells are multiplying faster and faster, a
sinister development takes place. The very act of mitosis (cell
division) exposes the chromosomes to chemicals that might
cause mutations. The protective nuclear membrane is temporar-
ily gone, leaving the genes naked in the cell sap, called cyto-
plasm. Normally mitosis is done quickly and not very often , to
reduce this risk. But in the Clostridium -infected cells, mitosis is
going on much more frequently due to the overabundance of
thiourea. A scientist, looking at a specimen of a very early tu-
mor sees many more nuclei going into mitosis—they become
densely stained when dyes are applied that color DNA, making
it easy to spot and count the cells that are in mitosis. This gives
scientists a measure of the rate of mitosis. The problem with
constant mitosis is that it increases exposure of your genes to
the hazards of mutagens (substances that cause mutations) in the
cytoplasm.
Look at the drawing of intestinal cells.^26 They are piling up
(^26) Koch, W.F., Cancer and its Allied Diseases, Pub. by author (Koch), 1933, pp. 40-41.
Normal lineup of cells Cells piling up due to crowding.