Climate-Triggered Cancer
Climate change is reshaping the world in visible ways, including rising sea levels, more intense storms, and rising average global temperatures. But what if the most profound threat is unfolding invisibly, inside our own cells? This research investigates a hidden link between a warming planet and cancer. Chronic heat exposure, through the stress-response protein Hsp70 family, may be quietly reprogramming our cellular defenses to favor tumor growth and formation.
Human-induced climate change has increased the average global temperature by more than 1°C over the last century, with projections indicating further warming in the near future. Sustained exposure to temperatures above an organism's thermoneutral point results in significant physiological burdens, as the body must divert energy to cellular defense and survival mechanisms.
At the cellular level, such thermal stress activates the highly conserved heat shock response. Orchestrated by the transcription factor HSF1, a rapid upregulation of protective chaperones including Heat Shock Protein 70 (Hsp70) allows the cell to suppress apoptosis and defend itself against denatured and aggregated proteins during a heat shock event.
Although the response is transient, emerging evidence suggests that chronic, repeated heat exposure can epigenetically prime Hsp70, elevating its baseline expression beyond the acute stress window. Problematically, Hsp70 is a well-characterized antagonist of apoptosis. In the context of cancer, its sustained presence can shield damaged cells from programmed cell death and promote tumor survival.
This research proposal was developed to address a critical, and largely unexamined, gap at the intersection of climate science and oncology. By experimentally linking chronic heat exposure to Hsp70-driven tumor promotion, this work aims to further elucidate the effects of climate change on human health.
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I invite you to view my original proposal for this research project, written in Fall 2025. I detail the experimental plan to test if chronic heat exposure increases cancer risk via the epigenetic priming of Hsp70.