Oncogenes are genes that, when mutated or overexpressed, can contribute to:

Explanation

Oncogenes come from proto-oncogenes, which are normal genes involved in cell growth and division. The National Cancer Institute Dictionary of Cancer Terms defines an oncogene as a changed proto-oncogene that has too many copies or becomes more active than normal. Activation through mutation, chromosomal translocation, or overexpression can push cells towards uncontrolled division, which is the biological basis of cancer development. Tumour suppressor genes such as p53 normally counteract this tendency, so the relevant disease category here is cancer, not a general lifestyle, infectious, or metabolic condition.

Why the other options are wrong

• (B) Heart disease is not the target condition here because oncogenes are defined through altered control of cell growth and cancer-cell formation, not through heart pathology.
• (C) Bacterial infections do not fit the mechanism because the question is about abnormal cell growth driven by activated proto-oncogenes, not infection.
• (D) Diabetes is wrong because oncogenes are linked to uncontrolled cell division and cancer development, not to diabetes.

Concept

This tests the Science and Technology concept of genetic regulation of cell division and cancer biology. It recurs in RAS because such questions ask candidates to separate molecular causes of cancer from unrelated disease categories.

Source

• National Cancer Institute Dictionary of Cancer Terms

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