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A thematic course exploring five fundamental features of all biological systems, including structure and function, information flow, energy and matter, interactions, and evolution. Cancer arises from the body's own cells gradually acquiring traits that allow them to grow uncontrollably and evade safeguards. In this course, we will investigate how normal cellular processes, such as DNA replication, gene expression, metabolism, cell signaling, and cell cycle can be distorted during cancer development. We will also explore how the immune system recognizes (and sometimes fails to recognize) cancer cells, and how modern therapies attempt to restore homeostasis.