This 8-minute video is derived from the 2013 Holiday Lectures on Science. In it, Dr. Charles Sawyers explains the difference between proto-oncogenes, oncogenes, and tumor suppressor genes, and how mutations in these genes drive cancer development. "Cancer genes" can affect several cellular processes that he groups into three categories: cell growth and survival (i.e., genes involved in the cell cycle, cell fate (i.e., genes involved in cell differentiation), and genome maintenance (i.e, genes involved in DNA repair.)
In this activity, we will work with the two groups of genes that control the cell cycle, proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. We will also add a new group of genes that are in charge of the maintenance of our DNA, the DNA repair system.