Question

You have a cell that is is contact inhibited in its wild-type form. However, after you insert an oncogene into a target gene in the cell's genome, the cell is no longer contact inhibited.

Describe two methods you can use to attain this target gene. (Gene does not have mRNA).

Answer 1

In order to prevent contact-inhibition in the cells, genetic modification can be introduced as discussed below:

1. The cell-surface receptors can be genetically deleted by removing the gene which encodes them, therefore, leading to the failure of inter-cellular communication. This will prevent contact-inhibition.

2. By introducing cancerous growth in the cell, the condition of contact-inhibition itself can be eliminated as cancerous cells grow massively without any inhibitory effect of the nearby cells.