Bonus Episode of season 2!

Utsuka and Jigyasa have received a question from one of their curious listeners- Rythem Goyal! Rythem is a first-year graduate researcher at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Hyderabad. Our listener wants to know why we have moles and birthmarks! Utsuka and Jigyasa have once again put on their detective hats to find the answer!

They learned abnormal cellular behavior before birth can sometimes cause such harmless birthmarks and moles.

They also spoke with Dr. Ramray Bhat who is a Cancer scientist at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He tells them how a delicate balance of signals keeps cells in the “right” state. He also shared about his journey from being a clinician to an interdisciplinary researcher.

We’re sure that Utuska and Jigyasa’s conversations would have made you ask questions. You can leave them on our website ( https://www.indiaaskswhy.org/contact/), and we’ll pick them up :)

References

1. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/birthmarks
2. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4410-moles
3. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/moles/symptoms-causes/syc-20375200 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hemangioma/symptoms-causes/syc-20352334
4. Anna Batistatou, Aikaterini Zioga, John Panelos, Daniela Massi, Niki J. Agnantis, Konstantinos Charalabopoulos, A new concept of melanocytic neoplasia pathogenesis based on the phenotype of common acquired nevi, Medical Hypotheses, Volume 69, Issue 6, 2007, Pages 1334-1339, ISSN 0306-9877, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2007.03.004.
5. Kinsler VA, Larue L. The patterns of birthmarks suggest a novel population of melanocyte precursors arising around the time of gastrulation. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2018;31:95–109. https://doi.org/10.1111/pcmr.12645
6. A. Taıeb et al. Diagnosis of some common and uncommon hyperpigmentation disorders in children. Dermatologica Sinica 32 (2014) 211e216. Mahajan P, Bergstrom KL, Phung TL, Metry DW. The genetics of vascular birthmarks. Clin Dermatol. 2022 Jul-Aug;40(4):313-321. doi: 10.1016/j.clindermatol.2022.02.006. Epub 2022 Feb 16.