In the January 2, 2015 issue of Science magazine, I read a troubling article. Two researchers—one a cancer geneticist and the other a biostatistician—found that approximately two-thirds of all cancers are the result of “biological bad luck.”(1) The ‘bad luck’ they describe is simply the random genetic mutations that happen as a result of healthy cells dividing. Utilizing a statistical model to analyze historical literature on cancer, they examined the rates of cell division in 31 types of bodily tissue. Focusing specifically on stem cells—the specialized population of cells within each organ tissue that provide replacements when cells wear out—they found that the higher the rate of stem-cell division the more increased the risk of cancer. The reason why? Dividing cells must make copies of their DNA. The more they divide (over time), the higher the risk that errors in the copying process could set off the uncontrolled growth that leads to cancer.(2)
These findings are troubling because they create doubt as to whether preventative controls matter at all in the fight against cancer. They are troubling especially as I thought of all those who have come face to face with the “randomness” of cancer. They are more than just statistics; they are family members, friends, and colleagues who struggle with this often-deadly disease. Confidence erodes in any sense of control over one’s safety and health in light of findings like these.
As I read studies like this, or simply look out on the world around me, it is sometimes difficult not to collapse under the weight of what appears to be random catastrophic events. Mistaken identity, for example, was the “reason” a classmate and dear friend of my brother was murdered, not two-weeks into his new marriage. Working as an urban missionary, he was murdered at the front door of a home in which he was coming to share the Christian faith. Those inside mistook him for someone who had done harm to them in the past. In another seemingly random event, two wilderness experts/enthusiasts river-rafting in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge awoke to find a grizzly bear in their campsite. Though they were armed with a rifle and other necessary protection, they were mauled and killed by the bear. They startled the bear as they emerged in the morning to prepare some breakfast. Apparently, being in the wrong place at the wrong time can get one killed. But the ‘wrong’ place often seems to be as arbitrary as a roll of the dice. Now as I write this, a microorganism has spread around the globe and erased all notions of being in the ‘right’ place.
Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – The Myth of Safety
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