Lexicographer review — Page 27 of 37 S4

Vicar Marshall admits to mixed feelings about this issue , since he is both a vicar and an active bell-ringer himself .

“ The sound of bells is a net to draw people into the church , “ he says .

“ I live in hopes that the ringers themselves will be drawn into that fuller life . “

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers , a sort of parliament of ringing groups , aims to improve relations with vicars , says John C. Baldwin , president .

It hopes to speak to students at theological colleges about the joys of bell ringing and will shortly publish a booklet for every vicar in the country entitled , “ The Bells in Your Care . “

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers , a sort of parliament of ringing groups , aims to improve relations with vicars , says John C. Baldwin , president .

It hopes to speak to students at theological colleges about the joys of bell ringing and will shortly publish a booklet for every vicar in the country entitled , “ The Bells in Your Care . “

Says Mr. Baldwin , “ We recognize that we may no longer have as high a priority in church life and experience . “

Mr. Baldwin is also attacking the greater problem : lack of ringers .

One survey says that of the 100,000 trained bellringers in England today , only 40,000 of them still ring .

An emerging understanding of the genes is expected to produce an array of new strategies for future cancer treatment and prevention .

That is for the future .

Already , scientists are developing tests based on the newly identified genes that , for the first time , can predict whether an otherwise healthy individual is likely to get cancer .

“ It 's a super-exciting set of discoveries , “ says Bert Vogelstein , a Johns Hopkins University researcher who has just found a gene pivotal to the triggering of colon cancer .

“ Only a decade ago cancer was a black box about which we knew nothing at the molecular level .

That is for the future .

Already , scientists are developing tests based on the newly identified genes that , for the first time , can predict whether an otherwise healthy individual is likely to get cancer .

“ It 's a super-exciting set of discoveries , “ says Bert Vogelstein , a Johns Hopkins University researcher who has just found a gene pivotal to the triggering of colon cancer .

“ Only a decade ago cancer was a black box about which we knew nothing at the molecular level .

Today , we know that the accumulation of several of these altered genes can initiate a cancer and , then , propel it into a deadly state . “

Already , scientists are developing tests based on the newly identified genes that , for the first time , can predict whether an otherwise healthy individual is likely to get cancer .

“ It 's a super-exciting set of discoveries , “ says Bert Vogelstein , a Johns Hopkins University researcher who has just found a gene pivotal to the triggering of colon cancer .

“ Only a decade ago cancer was a black box about which we knew nothing at the molecular level .

Today , we know that the accumulation of several of these altered genes can initiate a cancer and , then , propel it into a deadly state . “

Scientists call the new class of genes tumor-suppressors , or simply anti-cancer genes .

Already , scientists are developing tests based on the newly identified genes that , for the first time , can predict whether an otherwise healthy individual is likely to get cancer .

“ It 's a super-exciting set of discoveries , “ says Bert Vogelstein , a Johns Hopkins University researcher who has just found a gene pivotal to the triggering of colon cancer .

“ Only a decade ago cancer was a black box about which we knew nothing at the molecular level .

Today , we know that the accumulation of several of these altered genes can initiate a cancer and , then , propel it into a deadly state . “

Scientists call the new class of genes tumor-suppressors , or simply anti-cancer genes .

But if the genes are damaged -- perhaps by radiation , a chemical or through a chance accident in cell division -- their growth-suppressing proteins no longer work , and cells normally under control turn malignant .

The newly identified genes differ from a family of genes discovered in the early 1980s called oncogenes .

Oncogenes must be present for a cell to become malignant , but researchers have found them in normal as well as in cancerous cells , suggesting that oncogenes do n't cause cancer by themselves .

In recent months , researchers have come to believe the two types of cancer genes work in concert : An oncogene may turn proliferating cells malignant only after the tumor-suppressor gene has been damaged .

Like all genes , tumor-suppressor genes are inherited in two copies , one from each parent .

Oncogenes must be present for a cell to become malignant , but researchers have found them in normal as well as in cancerous cells , suggesting that oncogenes do n't cause cancer by themselves .

In recent months , researchers have come to believe the two types of cancer genes work in concert : An oncogene may turn proliferating cells malignant only after the tumor-suppressor gene has been damaged .

Like all genes , tumor-suppressor genes are inherited in two copies , one from each parent .

Either copy can make the proteins needed to control cell growth , so for cancer to arise , both copies must be impaired .

A person who is born with one defective copy of a suppressor gene , or in whom one copy is damaged early in life , is especially prone to cancer because he need only lose the other copy for a cancer to develop .

Either copy can make the proteins needed to control cell growth , so for cancer to arise , both copies must be impaired .

A person who is born with one defective copy of a suppressor gene , or in whom one copy is damaged early in life , is especially prone to cancer because he need only lose the other copy for a cancer to develop .

Emerging genetic tests will be able to spot such cancer-susceptible individuals , ushering in what some scientists believe is a new age of predictive cancer diagnosis .

Bill and Bonnie Quinlan are among the first beneficiaries of the new findings .

The Dedham , Mass. , couple knew even before Bonnie became pregnant in 1987 that any child of theirs had a 50 % chance of being at risk for retinoblastoma , an eye cancer that occurs about once every 20,000 births .

Then last spring , researchers reported finding a gene called p53 which , if impaired , turns healthy colon cells cancerous .

Soon after that report , two other research teams uncovered evidence that the same damaged p53 gene is present in tissue from lung and breast cancers .

Colon , lung and breast cancers are the most common and lethal forms of the disease , collectively killing almost 200,000 Americans a year .

Right now about a dozen laboratories , in the U.S. , Canada and Britain , are racing to unmask other suspected tumor-suppressing genes .

They have about seven candidates .