Author: Prosper Obed Chukwuemeka, Ph.D. Candidate in Integrative Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh

Cancer arises when your cells grow uncontrollably and refuse to die when they should. Normally, your body is equipped with regulatory processes to prevent this chaos. One such mechanism involves a protein called p53. Often dubbed the “guardian of the genome,” this protein plays a pivotal role in ensuring that your cells grow, divide and die in an orderly fashion. When p53 malfunctions, the result is often cancer. Learning about how p53 works has not only deepened how scientists understand cancer, but also provided promising avenues for new treatments. In my work as a cancer researcher, I study the underlying…