A cancer cell is like a racecar, speeding through the process of cellular replication. But it has to stop at the G2M cell cycle checkpoint, where a race inspector called Wee1 checks it over for damage—cells with intact DNA can continue, while cells with damaged DNA have to stick around for repairs. The wait is worth it—there are curves ahead, and beyond the G2M checkpoint, cells with damaged DNA explode against the wall of "mitotic catastrophe." But the thing is, we want cancer cells to explode; we would rather they speed through the G2M checkpoint without a Wee1 inspection and hit the wall of mitotic catastrophe.
* This article was originally published here
