“*A carcinogen is a substance, organism or agent capable of causing cancer*”.
“*Cancer* is *a disease in which some of the body’s cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body*”.
How does something like alcohol or tobacco cause cancer?
In: Biology
Dear Diary:
Today was rough. Working in the gall bladder is never easy, of course, but we take pride in our work. “If you’re gonna store bile, do it in style,” we always say. But a few days ago, this smoke got into our work area – not even sure how. I was lucky and managed to stay away, but my buddy? He got caught up in it, and he got hurt. Hurt bad. I hope he recovers.
***
Dear Diary:
It’s been a few days, and I’m still worried about him. Fortunately he seems to have survived, but… he’s different now. He’s dividing constantly. Bile work is always dangerous, of course – cells get hurt all the time, and when the worst happens and we need extra help, we divide. But now, it’s like division is all he can think of. He doesn’t help break up stones, he doesn’t help move the bile into the duodenum on schedule, it’s just all division, all the time. And when we tell him to stop it’s like he can’t even hear us. All his duplicates are the same way, too.
It’s getting crowded in here. I hope they come to their senses soon.
***
Dear Diary
This has been the most terrifying week of my life! Food was already getting scarce, as all the duplicates ate everything and care that we were hungry. But that’s not the worst of it, oh no. Days ago, a giant knife stabbed in through the walls! Then a massive section of the walls themselves just disappeared, like they’d been pulled away into a great void. And so many cells went with them. I was terrified. My buddy is… gone. Most of his duplicates, too. Afterwards, we all got sick, like we’d been exposed to some kind of poison. A lot of the workers didn’t make it, but the remaining duplicates of my buddy were so busy trying to duplicate – yes, even after all that! – that they refused to protect themselves, and they didn’t stand a chance. Most of the ones that didn’t disappear into the void perished to the poison.
Call me a bad cell, but I can’t seem to make myself feel bad about that.
***
Dear Diary:
I don’t know why, but I find myself oddly optimistic today, despite the poison which has periodically ravaged our community for the few weeks. The copies my buddy left behind are all gone now – succumbed to the poison to the last – and food supplies are back to normal. And even while I was wracked by pain from the most recent wave of poison, I thought I heard a ringing sound. I don’t know; maybe it was some kind of hallucination, but it felt real. It gave me hope for the future. Like maybe the poison will stop.
I guess it doesn’t matter. Maybe it will end, and maybe it won’t. But come what may, I’ve got a job to do. After all:
If you’re gonna store bile, do it in style!
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