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Harbor Transcript is published quarterly by the Department of Public Affairs of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. For print copies contact Public Affairs at One Bungtown Road, P.O. Box 100, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724-2213, telephone 516-367-8455 or email pubaff@cshl.org.
| Editor-in-Chief | Jeffrey J. Picarello |
| Assistant Editor | Peter W. Sherwood |
| Art Director | Margot Bennett |
| Photographer | Miriam Chua |
| Copy Editors | Catherine Beisel, Lynn Hardin, Laura Hyman |
| Contributing Writer & Managing Editor | Wendy Goldstein Helfman |
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n the United States, approximately 70,000 deaths from cancer per year are associated with genetic alterations in the myc oncogene. This gene encodes a protein - the Myc transcription factor - that is a potent stimulator of cell proliferation. Because Myc is a potent growth stimulator, a little goes a long way. Therefore, the level of Myc within cells is normally tightly regulated. This level is determined by how much Myc is synthesized in a given time frame, and by how quickly it is destroyed (like water flowing into and draining out of a sink). CSHL scientist Bill Tansey is studying how the destruction of the Myc protein is regulated and how defects in this process (clogging the sink) lead to abnormally high levels of Myc, and potentially to cancer.
