Most melanocytes of the skin are fully differentiated and have long lifespans with low proliferative capacity,...
Most melanocytes of the skin are fully differentiated and have long lifespans with low proliferative capacity, similar to neurons. Under certain circumstances, melanocytes can begin to hyperproliferate (divide at a higher than normal rate) leading to melanoma, a common type of skin cancer. Many treatments for cancer seek to disrupt DNA replication since having 2 intact and error-free copies of the genome is required for progression through the cell cycle. 6. As part of your summer research internship, you isolate 100 melanocytes from healthy non- cancerous skin and determine the stage of the cell cycle they were currently in. What stage of the cell cycle would you expect to observe most frequently? How many copies of the genome are present in this cell stage? (2 marks)