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Tailor-Made Cancer Drugs
pmineiro writes "A researcher at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a method for delivering an inactive drug complex into the body, which is only activated by certain messenger RNA sequences. This allows a drug to be selectively activated only in certain cellular contexts, e.g., cancer or HIV infection."
> In the presence of cosmic rays and background
> radiation, to say nothing of the computer
> monitors, cellular phones, and irradicated beef
> that we surround ourselves with every day, these
> genetic superdrugs could easily mutate. In their
> new forms, they'd be essentially unstoppable.
> One stray gramma ray could spell the end of
> humanity.
<SARCASM>So, good thing you actually read the article, and have a solid grasp of the relevant biology.</SARCASM>
Mutations in the prodrug and catalyst would most likely decrease their binding affinity for their target sequence, and likely mRNA sequence in general. Thus, the drug would be *less* likely to be activated.
The idea that the "genetic superdrugs" would easily mutate and "spell the end of humanity" is ludicrous. For this to happen, they would need some way to reproduce themselves, which they don't. If they did, they would be analogous to virii. While virii are often pathogenic, they haven't destroyed humanity as of yet.
(By the way, I'm amused by people who talk about "what Nature intended". Did you have a nice long chat with Nature about this stuff? Did Nature give you an itemized list of things Nature intended? If so, the next time you and Nature do lunch, I'd like to tag along.)