Question

One of the most common methods of treating cancer is using chemical analogues that mimic the
structure of nucleotides. These analogues are incorporated into DNA and prevent DNA polymerase
from further building a complementary strand during DNA replication. Using your understanding of
DNA and replication, explain why this is an effective strategy against the proliferation of cancer
cells. One of the side effects of chemotherapy is hair loss. Explain why this happens.

Answer 1

Cancer can be treated by using chemical analogs that stop the DNA replication process, whereas chemotherapy produces hair loss due to the elimination of rapidly growing cells.

What are chemical nucleotide analogs?

The chemical nucleotide analogs are molecules that mimic natural nucleotides in the DNA double helix such as Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine; however, once included during DNA replication they can stop this process.

Chemotherapy can promote hair loss because these chemicals kill not only cancer cells but also rapidly growing cells such as hair follicle stem cells.

In conclusion, cancer can be treated by using chemical analogs that stop the DNA replication process, whereas chemotherapy produces hair loss due to the elimination of rapidly growing cells.

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