Back to the Drawing Board

Everyone in this class has taken Biology 101 and 102. In those courses we learned a lot (admittedly, some more than others), but one main thing that we could all take away from them is a basic understanding of animal cell structure and function. Or so we thought!
Graham Warren, Ph.D. and Professor of Cell Biology at Yale Medical School has made an interesting find involving our old friend, the Golgi apparatus. Many scientists agreed that the Golgi apparatus is little more than an extension of the endoplasmic reticulum, an organelle responsible for, amongst other things, fixating ribosomes during protein synthesis. The Golgi apparatus itself was viewed as multiple membranous layers through which proteins secreted from the endoplasmic reticulum pass through on their path to target cells or to other parts of the cell.
Warren's multinational research team discovered an extracellular matrix that could regulate the growth and division of this alleged organelle, a system of proteins that is not observable through regular electron microscopy. Warren and his team focused on these proteins that form a sort of "scaffolding" for the membranes.
The implications of this kind of research are far-reaching and may be of particular interest to those conducting research in cancer. The most significant problem in cancer is that the cells continue to divide inexplicably. If the Golgi apparatus is a separate organelle, then this would mean that the structure responsible for a large part of protein, hormone, and growth factor transmission within and between cells is actually growing and dividing independently, and is separately inherited from other cell organelles like the endoplasmic reticulum.
Warren said that he would continue looking at the Golgi apparatus, "from a basic cell biology perspective that has medical implications for diseases like cancer".
(http://www.biology-online.org/articles/yale-scientists-give-golgi-apparatus.html)
and
(http://www.cellbiology.yale.edu/faculty/warren_g/warren_g.html)
While Warren's team isn't making any promises, I would like to think that redefining and perfecting our understanding of basic cellular processes can allow us to remain optimistic on developing a cure for cancer within our generation.