posted on Aug, 7 2014 @ 05:38 PM
My daughter is a cancer researcher at the University of Minnesota, so I pay attention to what's going on over there. Unfortunately, she's not a part
of this particular team, because what they've come up with may be groundbreaking... the prevention of all cancers.
As cells age, they begin to break down, and at some given point, the body gives them a message that tells them to die. Sometimes that message gets
lost or corrupted, and a cell turns cancerous and begins to spread. Dr. Eric Hendrickson of the U of M and Duncan Baird of Cardiff University found
that there is a single specific gene that has to be present for that cell to turn cancerous, and without it, cancer is impossible.
Scientists have long known that chromosomal defects occur as cells repeatedly divide. Over time, these defects are linked to the onset of
Now, Professor Duncan Baird and his team from Cardiff University working in collaboration with Eric A. Hendrickson from the University of Minnesota,
have identified a specific gene that human cells require in order to survive these types of defects.
Now, there are two issues here. First, there currently is no drug that will inhibit this gene, though it is likely that the race will be on to develop
it -- whoever patents this is going to be very, very rich. Secondly, it does not kill existing cancer cells, it just prevents new ones from
developing, so it's more of a vaccine than anything else, though I suppose that it could be part of standard cancer treatment and would prevent its
If you would like to read the published paper, it is here: Escape from
Telomere-Driven Crisis Is DNA Ligase III Dependent
ETA: Video of local news story that includes an interview with Dr. Hendrickson and explains the process in layman's terms:
U of M research helps solve cancer
Another local news program with a longer interview: INTERVIEW: U of M Researcher Talks About
Possible Cancer Study Breakthrough
Cancer sucks. Let's hope that this is the beginning of the end of it.
edit on 7-8-2014 by adjensen because: (no reason given)