This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study that investigated how random mutations during cell division can contribute to cancer.

Hereditary and environmental factors explain only a fraction of overall cancer risk. In this study, researchers investigated how a third factor, chance mutations during stem cell division and DNA replication, may contribute to the cancer rates of various body tissues. The figure compares how many times stem cells divide in different tissues with the lifetime risks of developing cancer in those tissues. The “Educator Materials” document includes a captioned figure, background information, graph interpretation, and discussion questions. The “Student Handout” includes a captioned figure and background information.

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.