If the mistake is irreparable and the rogue cell threatens to grow out of control (as happens in cancer), p53 commands the cell to commit suicide.
Twenty years ago, a civilian Naval Intelligence analyst named Jonathan Pollard was caught stealing American secrets on behalf of an Israeli intelligence cell — a "rogue" cell, the Israelis later claimed.
Another case to consider: the Department of Homeland Security recently discovered a number of rogue cell-phone simulators — technical tools that are commonly called "Stingrays" — in Washington, D.C., and has been unable to identify who was operating them.
In it, Dr. D. W. Smithers, then at Royal Marsden Hospital in London, argued that cancer was not a disease caused by a rogue cell that divides and multiplies until it destroys its host.
Early detection is based on the theory, dating back to the late 19th century, that the disease progresses consistently, beginning with a single rogue cell, growing sequentially and at some invariable point making a lethal leap.
