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(May flower- A beautiful error in sexual reproduction ; Anthurium flower - Another error in sexual reproduction. Rose flowers,Mussaenda flowers, Jasmine flowers, Bougainvillea flowers and many otherflowers all are examples of failed sexual reproduction. Flowers incapable of producing seeds or seedlings are cammon in nature) 1) Growth is a sign of life, not a sign of death. it is common sense that growth is for creation not for destruction. Many living organisms have two methods for reproduction . In some of them both methods are working while in others only one is working and the other one is dormant. The dormant one gets reactivated when the dominant one is not functioning properly.Over a period of time human sexual reproduction is restricted and the 'reproduction free period' in human life span has considerably increased. Often cancers ocuur in old age when reproduction is absent or insufficient.In the post menopausel women incidence of cancer is high. In a rose plant faulty sexual reproduction (flowering) occurs in tender young branches while we use matured old branches for asexual reproduction. When we remove the overhanging branches preventing natural asexual reproduction there is more flowering (sexual reproduction) from the new tender branches. We have almost similar situation in cancer.

Perhaps humans are the only living organism on earth strictly controlling reproduction and going to negative growth in many communities and countries.Besides the human fertility is reducing due to various causess. The semen quality and the testosteron levels are reducing in young men. Sexual reproduction and the attempts for sexual reproduction are reducing. Often the physiological reflexes for reproduction and instincts for reproduction are suppressed in young persons.Humans should marry and have a licence for reproduction! Over and above this several organisations and governments are encoraging even same sex marriages. Today cancer rate is rapidly increasing even among relatively young people. It is common sense to assume that the geneticaly unstable abnormal growth seen commonly in old and middle age people is the result of a natural attempt for an alternate type of reproduction. Due to the lack of all the required genes for asexual reproduction in humans, the growth process failed to achieve the asexual reproduction. The purpose of active growth is to create - not to kill. In cancer the desired creation could not be achieved, hence the cell multiplication and growth continues indefenitly leading to a fatal out come.The genetic instability and increasing number of mutations are signs of attempts for development of a perfect asexual reproduction process. (We know that during drug resistance,the bacteria develop several mutations to achive reproduction) During the development process of asexual reproduction several mutations occur. With about six mutations often cancer is formed (tumor may contain 2 to 8 driver genes). It is possible that as the number of mutations increase sufficiently asexual reproduction shall materialise! Hence I think that the unstoppable, genetically unstable cancer growth with several mutations, seen often when sexual reproduction is stopped, is a defective (incompletely developed) reproductive tissue evolved while attempting asexual reproduction. 2) Errors and mistakes in biological process are common.b> "Look around you at all the beauty,complexity and variety of life, We live in a world of mistakes governed by chance"( Sean B.Carroll).There are several flowers which can't produce a seed or seedling.

Humans have several fatal and non fatal errors in sexual reproduction process.Transgenders, chromosomal anomalies, sterility, complications during delivery, death of the mother and baby, still birth, miscarrages, molar pregnancy,ectopic pregnancy etc. are some of the important errors of sexual reproduction in humans. Hence it is possible that cancer - a genetically unstable growth - may be a fatal error while attempting for asexual reproduction (without adequate genes) to compensate for the shortage in sexual reproduction. Cancer seems to be an error during the micro evolution for asexual reproduction,often observed when sexual reproduction is very much distorted, insufficient or absent.When the life time reproductive success is low natural selection process shall work and try to extend the reproductive period in humans. But inspite of a fall in menarcheal age in women in the developed world reproduction rate is poor. The reduction in the age of menarche did not have the desired effect in humans.The sexual reproduction rate in humans remains even below replacement rate in many developed communities and nations. Hence attempts for asexual reproduction are made to prevent the extinction is a natural biological reaction! (Cancer is relatively more in developed nations.) But unfortunatly there are several genetic errors while developing the asexual reproduction process.We know that even in a fairly perfected sexual reproduction process of humans there are several errors. Molar pregnancy does not have an embryo. In this world of several biological errors cancer is one of the a fatal errors during the evolution of an asexual reproduction process in humans. 3) There are lots of similarities between embryogenesis and tumorigenesis.The p53 genes controll both tumorigenesis and embryogenesis.This gene often destroys {apoptosis) the cancer (the defective product of asexual reproduction) as soon as it is formed. In fact the manifested cancer is only a small fraction of the number of cancers formed. This destruction of early cancer is similar to the phenomenon of miscarriage of the biochemical pregnancy. Development of early embryo shares many similarities with cancer development in terms of both biological behaviour and molucular basis. ( Yanlei Ma et.all 2010). Scientists have recognised that these similarities are not accidental. Prof. Lloyd J Old from Ludwig institute for cancer research, New York branch USA, recognised these similarities and nicknamed cancer a 'somatic cell pregnancy'.We know that often the nick names reveal what the given name is not revealing! This is true as far as cancer is concerned. The cancer growth is agressive like the growth of placenta on uterine wall. The cancer growth is highly vascular like the gravid uterus. There is even a direct correlation btween the depth of placental invasion and spread of cancer from the primary site in all specieses.Cancer cells have free mobility like the ovum/sperm. Cancer cell are immobilised and spread can be blocked by peritumoral injection of lidocaine.(Tessa & Elizabeth). The occurance of twins or multiple pregnancies are uncommon . Similarly the occurance of multiple primary cancers is uncommon. (In fact one risk factor can cause several types of cancers) The Zika virus can recognise that cancer is an embryonic tissue. Meduloblastoma, a brain cancer is eaten by Zika virus, without damaging the normal brain tissue, as it is similar to embryonic brain tissue ( Zika virus do not eat adult brain). Oncologists are attempting even to use zika virus to destroy cancer (meduloblastoma) without damages to the normal brain tissue! Cancer cells have large nucleus like the sperm. These multiple embryonic charecterestics of cancer indicate that the genetically unstable cancer growth is a unaccomplished defective product of asexual reproduction. 4) The immune systems do not attack cancer as well as pregnancy Evading immune destruction is one of the emerging hallmarks of cancer.(D.Hanahan & R.Weinberg) When the watch dogs do nothing, the troublemaker is from with in the system. We use amniotic membranes for transplantation in burns of conjunctiva because the embryonic tissue is well tolerated by all the recepients. Abnormal pregnancy like ectopics and molar pregnancy are not attacked by immune watchdogs.Even the embryo transfered to a surrogate mother is not attacked by the immune systems. It is obvious that reproductive systems have a builtin ability to escape from immune attack. Since there is no immune attack on cancer growth, cancers are often asymptomatic during the early stages. The immune avasion capability (hallmark) of cancer can explain how accidently transplanted cancer cells are growing in another person without immune attack. Similarly cancer is getting transmited in dogs on contact with mucous membrane as in coitus and on biting as in Tasmania devils without any immune attack on the cells transmitted. Immune evassion by cancer can be easily explained only by the asexual reproduction hypothesis. Other hallmarks of cancer also point to the fact that cancer is a failed reproductive process. In fact there is not only immune evasion by cancer but also immune enhancement of cancer cell formation?! The enzyme APOBEC3A,a part of innate immune system enhancess mutations by manipulating the unstable genome of cancer cells! Hence the genetically unstable abnormal growth immune to immune attack is a defective product of asexual reproduction caused by multiple mutations. 5) It is a wellknown fact that cancer affects frequently the sex organs and reproductive organs. And gametogenic genes are seen in all types of cancers .

The reproductive organs form around 10% to 15 % of total body mass. But the vast majority of cancers ( Female breast, prostate, ovary,uterus,testes etc.) are affecting reproductive organs in spite of removal of many healthy reproductive organs to prevent cancer. It was observed that incidence of prostate cancer is less in men if there is frequent ejaculation. In women if the baby is not breast fed the physiological system shall interpret it as still birth or death of the baby immediately after birth and hence a failure of sexual reproduction. Cancer incidence is high only in the female breast and is more when they were not used to feed the baby. Many women in the vulnareble age group for cancer do not have the ovaries and uterus because of frequent prophylactic removal of these reproductive organs in the developed countries. Hence the real number cancers of ovary and uterus would have been much more than what is recorded in statistics in the developed world. I do agree that the lung cancer is one of the common cancers. But the number of lungs in a population is more than four times the number of prostates in a population.( Both men and women have two lungs each) And 80% of men over the age of 80 have prostate cancer. In a rose plant both sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction starts from the nodes. And only old branches are used for asexual reproduction indicating that cancer arising from old people could be an asexual reproduction process.The risk factors for cancer are often risk factors for infertility too. Cancer growth is not influenced by growth hormone,but often influenced by sexhormones. The telomeres of the DNA of cancer cells are long and the length shall not reduce by division. Telomers are long in the cells of embryo too. Interestingly the gametogenic genes ( cancer testes antigen) seen in testis and ovaries and typically required only for reproduction are seen in different types of cancers. These genes are known to promote cancer and are critical for the growth of the cancer. Why should gametogenic genes concerned with reproduction and a new life promote a killer disease like cancer? It shows that cancer - the genetically unstable growth promoted by gametogenic genes - is only a partly developed product of reproduction and it is neither an accidental error in cell division nor a typical growth disorder. 6) It was belived that cancer was occuring due to a random accident in cell division (DNA replication),in spite of the Peto's paradox.The lack of corelation between the body size (number of cells and cell divisions) and cancer risk (errors in cell division) is considere to be Peto's paradox. Theoreticall an elephant with lots of cells more than humans, shall have more cell divisions and should have more errors in cell division. But elephants do not have more incidence of cancer than human. And in humans cancer occurs when the cell divisions and growth have reduced considerably as in old age. When we consider that cancer is not a simple random accident but a failure during the attempt for asexual reproduction,Peto's paradox does not exist.Another paradox is that if cancer is just an error in cell division we should not have a precancerous condition gradually progressing to cancer. Several types of mutations are seen in bacteria to develop a new method of reproduction, when reproduction is blocked by antibiotics. Similar phenomenon is occuring in humans when sexual reproduction is scanty.Hence the genetically unstable cancer growth is the product of an unaccomplished asexual reproduction process, not occuring by random accident in the normal cell division but due to the failure during the attempt to develope additional reproductive process by mutation.To have identical error producing a growth with all hallmarks of cancer due to a simple error in cell division is unlikely, whereas an identical error producing a growth with all hallmarks of cancer in different persons while developing a difficult reproductive process could be more likely. The progression of precancerous growth to cancer also shows that the error in cancer is not a simple error in cell division.So It is an error in the process for asexual reproduction.

The asexual reproduction hypothesis can explain cancer growth and can eliminate all paradoxes in the existing hypothesis on cancer. 7) Contrary to the concept that cancer is a bunch of abnormal cells developed due to accident in cell division, cancer tissue contains not only the abnormal cells but also normal tissue like normal blood vessels and normal nerve fibres as if it is an organogenesis. Hence we can consider that it is more than just an accident in cell division of a perticular tissue.Presence of normal tissue in cancer growth indicates that it is an attempt for organogenesis or embryogenesis. Since cancer is not just a bundle of cells of defective cell division, it is an attempt for formation of a new life or embryo. Hence cancer is a product of a failed attempt for asexual reproduction with abnormal as well as normal cells and it is attempting to develop a new life in the absence of essential asexual reproduction genes. 8) Spontaneous cure of cancer is a pleasant surprise while treating cancer. This is because cancer is a growth of embryonic tissue without the protection of placenta. The bacteria,virus, toxins and intoxicating substancess reaching the patients blood can affect the vulnerable reproductive tissue easily resulting in the spontaneous miscarriage of the asexual reproduction (somatic cell pregnancy). Oncologist are even planning to use the embryonic brain eating Zika virus to selectively destroy the brain cancer. (Viral oncolysis). Rubella virus,Measles virus,Herpes virus, Toxoplasma Gondi etc can easily attack the embryonic growth. We know that one in five pregnancies end up in miscarriages before 12th week.The existing hypothesis on cancer cannot explain the spontaneous cure of cancer. Spontaneous cure of cancer support the asexual reproduction hypothesis and spontaneous cure is not a rare incident. Often they are reported as miracle cure or faith healing and not documented in scientific publications. No other hypothesis can explain spontaneous cure or miracle cure of cancer.We know that several attempts for sexual reproduction can fail in humans resulting in miscarriages without any known cause or reason. (Spontaneous cure is the spontaneous miscarriage of the 'somatic cell pregnancy'!). 9) Usually,animals in the forest do not suffer from cancer because their life is not abnormaly extended beyond their reproductive period and their reproduction is not regulated by themselves or by any agents. But Tasmanian-devils and sea lions at the verge of extinction due to insufficient sexualreproduction are developing cancer. (They neither smoke nor drink alcohol nor eat sugar!) The Tasmania devil mothers do not produce sufficient milk to feed the babies and often all of them die of starvation. Over and above this the fossils of allready extinct dinosurus showed cancer! The presence of cancer in animals at the verge of extinction is an additional proof infavour of the hypothesis that cancer is a failed attempt for asexual reproduction due to the lack of sexual reproduction and or poor survival of the infants.It can be considered as a failed nature's attempt to improve reproduction by asexual reproduction and to save a species from extinction.Unfortunatly the attempt fails in the organisms illequiped with asexual reproduction genes.The real cause for cancer seems to be the deficiency of essential genes for asexual reproduction; or the presence of an incomplete set of asexual reproduction genes.

10) Parthenogenesis is known to occur in invertebrates,fish and reptiles whenever there is difficulty in sexual reproduction. It was observed that Zebra sharks were reproducing by asexual method when kept in captivity without a male partner. Parthenogenesis was confirmed in Zebra sharks by DNA studies in 2016. Recently(2021) in the state Kerala,in India a coconut tree started producing seedlings (saplings) instead of the coconuts. Almost all the coconuts produced by the trees are consumed by humans without allowing any seedling formation.While making toddy, an intoxicating drink from the bunch of flowers of the coconut tree, humans do not allow even the flowers of many coconut trees to bloom.Hence the coconut tree switched over to asexual reproduction. The asexual reproduction also starts from the sexual reproduction location of the coconut tree. When life time reproductive success is poor natural selection process works to evolve new method of reproduction.It is possible that before evolving a perfect asexual reproduction process the tree might have tried unsuccesfully asexual reproduction for last several years. These trees were most probably destroyed by the agriculterists as diseased trees because they were not producing coconuts.Here is another supporting evidence to show that attempts shall be made by living organisms to switch over from sexual reproduction to asexual reproduction when sexual reproduction is affected. Since the asexual reproduction process is more complex and difficult in mammals than the invertebrates, we get a genetically unstable growth called cancer - a defective product of asexual reproduction. And cancer is very rare among the lower animals which can succesfully switch over from sexual to asexual reproduction. The asexual reproduction hypothesis simplifies cancer and can explain most of the hallmarks of cancer as well as the risk factors of cancer.It is evident that the real cause for cancer is the absence of essential asexual reproduction genes in humans associated with a strong drive and instinct for reproduction. According to Occam's principle the simplest answer to a problem could be the right answer rather than a sophisticated answer for a difficult question.(Principle of parsimony) However it is common sense that when a living organism fails to fully satisfy the very important reproductive needs of the species nature shall try another method to maintain a minimum reproduction level at least higher than the replacement rate.There is a relationship between the incidence of cancer and fertility. It seems that wherever the fertility rate is below the world average (Fert. rate 2.418 per woman) the cancer rate is above the world average (Can. rate 196 per 100K persons). Examples are South Korea (Fert. rate 0.78 per woman & Can.rate 239.9 per 100K) , Singapore ( Fert. rate 1.17 per woman & Can.rate 229.8 per 100k persons) and Italy (Fert. rate 1.24 per woman & Can.rate 278.3 per 100 K persons). And at the other end of the spectrum whenever fertility rate is above the world average cancer rate is below the world average. Example is Niger (Fert.rate 6.92 per woman & Can.rate 79 per 100K)! Recently it was observed that the early onset cancer rate is increasing in the world. The increase is predominantly in countries where fertility rate is low. South Korea and Japan are economically progressed Asian countries. It was noticed that the early onset colorectal cancer was increasing at a faster rate in South Korea where fertility rate was 0.78, than it was in Japan where Fertility rate was 1.39. I do agree that corelation does not mean causation . But in the presence of several other evidence favouring the asexual reproduction hypothesies, this corelation is significant.

In humans sex and sexual reproduction is reducing.In China and India,(the two most populated countries in the world) the fertility rate is reducing and cancer rate is increasing. This is influencing the world fertility rate! The world fertility rate is decreasing and the world cancer rate is increasing. (The BRCA 1 & 2 mutations linked to breast cancer are known to booster female fertility.) Reproduction is a very important function of any living organism including humans.Any adverse condition such as smoking, alcoholism, obesity and pollution greatly alter the reproductive health ( Encyclopedia of reproduction, vol.3, p.446-451). Interestingly these are the important risk factors for cancer too.The risk factors are not the cause for cancer. It was observed that women going on regular night duties get breast cancer more frequently. It is obvious that the these women can have less attempt for sexual reproduction. It is reasonable to expect that there shall be an alternate plan 'B' for reproduction for living organisms in nature. The male body with a pair of breast is only a modified female body capable of asexual reproduction and feeding the infant if required, hence asexual reproduction attempts (cancers) may occur in males too! Besides men are even losing the 'Y' chromosomes as sexual reproductive capability disappears due to ageing. We know that molar pregnancy has no embryo, yet it is an error of sexual reproduction.Similarly the 'somatic cell pregnancy' has no embryo, yet it is an error in asexual reproduction. Methotrexate is a drug used to destroy exclusively an ectopic pregnancy,an error in sexual reproduction with an embryo. The same drug is used to destroy cancers too, because both have several biological similarities. In biological science we can't prove results as in mathematics, physics or logic. We can only simply add the plausibility by accumilating more and more evidence. Statistics and commonsense support the asexual reproduction hypothesis. According to Sir Arthur Connan Doyle "The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance observe" I feel that the world is full of reproductive errors and cancer is one of the fatal reproductive errors.

For further details, you may read my E book "Why Cancer?" ISBN:9781370190973. smashwords.com/books/view/769583. OR Cancer : The asexual reproduction hypothesis. Journal of International Medical Science Academy, 2020,vol.33,No.1, Jan-Mar, p.37-39. www.imsaonline.com Make love not wars,you may prevent cancer too!

 

Young TXD hybrid coconut tree very active in reproduction!  

Why do cancer develop in certain animals in their natural habitat? Cancer is seen in Tasmanian Devils & Sea lions,  They neither smoke tobacco nor chew tobacco, they do not drink alcohol,  they do not eat fast food, there is no obesity and they breast feed their young ones. But still they develop cancer.  The fact is that most of these animals are at the verge of extinction. Their reproduction rate is low due to various reasons To prevent extinction due to the insufficient sexual reproduction these animals are attempting asexual reproduction. Several animals in the zoos die of cancer because at captivity their reproduction is very low due to various reasons. Recently a Zebra shark in captivity without a partner for sexual reproduction, reproduced asexually (parthenogenesis). Unfortunately in mammals this attempt for asexual reproduction fails due to the absence of asexual reproduction genes. This defective product of asexual reproduction is manifested as a genetically unstable growth; we call cancer. Paradoxically  instead of saving the animals from extinction these cancers enhance the extinction process because of the early death  of the animals due to cancer. Animals ( dragons, hammer head sharks zebra sharks etc.) which are able to reproduce succesfully rarely develop cancer. Here is another evidence to support  the hypothesis that cancer is a failed attempt for asexual reproduction. Is humans also at the verge of extinction ? Perhaps yes. Due to the intentional reduction of attempts for reproduction and the progressive deterioration of quality and quantity of sperms in men, sexual reproduction rate is deteriorating. Besides, those who have good sperm count undergo vasectomy for birth control . And it is estimated that majority of men shall not have reproductive capacity by 2060!! (Alex Ford, Reproductive health) That is the beginning of the journey to extinction.Perhaps the journey starts from Seoul in South Korea with a fertility rate of 0.63. And in South Korea cancer rate is 239.9 and it is the most common cause for death! Pandemics of fatal viral diseases shall enhance the process of extinction. 

Kerala, a small state in India has lots of coconut plantations. Millions of coconuts are being harvested for human consumption  every year since last several centuries. Every bit of the nut is used for human consumption. On several occasions the trees are not allowed   even to complete the flowering and nut formation, for the sake of extraction of  an intoxicating drink - the  toddy . This is being continued  uninhibited for last several centuries. Ultimately only very few nuts, from a few selected trees  are used for making seedlings and replanting. All the trees are producing nuts for growing  new trees as a part of the sexual reproduction. But unfortunately the reproduction process stops at the level of formation of seeds in a vast majority of trees. Germination is not allowed by humans! The trees react to this  diversion of  huge number of seeds from seedling formation to  human consumption. The result is,  the trees are making attempts for asexual reproduction by growing saplings from the nodes instead of  the bunch of male and female flowers. This was recently reported from Kerala (Mathrubhumi,8th April,2021). Perhaps similar attempts  might have been made for asexual reproduction in the previous years. And the farmers might have removed the unproductive and'diseased'trees without being reported! The farmers plant hybread coconut trees for getting more coconuts & they give good manure for getting more coconuts.The genes and the manure decide the productivity (reproduction) of coconut. It is important to recognise that nature always have a plan B for reproduction; the most important function of a living organism.   

 To know more about cancer and the new hypothesis , you may  please read the e book Why Cancer? ISBN:9781370190973.smashwords.com/books/view/769583 

OR Cancer: The asexual reproduction hypothesis. JIMSA 2020.Jan-Mar.vol.33,No.1,p37-39. www.imsaonline.com