Question

Oncogene is responsible for:

• A. AIDS
• B. Typhoid
• C. Malaria
• D. Cancer

Hint:

Think of the gene family that pushes a cell to divide again and again without stopping.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understand what a gene normally does inside a cell.
Every cell carries genes that control when it should grow, divide, or stop dividing. Among these are proto oncogenes, normal genes that help push cell division forward at the right time, and tumor suppressor genes, which act like brakes to stop division when it is not needed.

Step 2: Learn what an oncogene is.
When a proto oncogene picks up a mutation, or gets copied too many times, or is switched on by a virus, it turns into an oncogene. An oncogene keeps telling the cell to divide even when it should not. This unchecked, repeated division is exactly how a tumor starts and grows, so an oncogene drives cancer. Some oncogenes are carried by cancer causing viruses, and some arise from damage to a person's own DNA, for example from radiation or chemicals.

Step 3: Rule out the other options one by one.
(A) AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, which attacks immune cells. It has nothing to do with genes that push cell division.
(B) Typhoid is a bacterial infection caused by Salmonella typhi, spread through contaminated food or water, and is treated with antibiotics, not related to oncogenes at all.
(C) Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite, spread by the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. This is a parasitic disease, again with no link to oncogenes.

Step 4: Match the correct option.
Since oncogenes are the genes that cause a cell to divide without control, leading to tumor formation, the correct link is to cancer.

Final Answer:
An oncogene is a gene that drives uncontrolled cell division and tumor growth, which is cancer.