Slashdot Mirror
Cure for Cancer?
Ensign Regis writes "MIT's Technology Review is reporting that an Israeli institute has developed "molecular-sized" computers that can detect and eradicate cancer cells. Right now, it only works in test tubes, but it may soon be developed for humans."
Interesting, first a cure for HIV, and now one for Cancer, what's next, the cure for 1337 5p34k?
Given the perversion of mankind, let's all hope they use it for medicine and not for politics.
"The molecular-scale computer could take 10 years to reach clinical trials, according to the researchers. "....hrmppfffff
While it is great that this may one day cure cancer in people, I think it's fantastic that in the mean time we can keep our test-tubes healthy.
Paul Lenhart writes words!
If I were dying of cancer in 5 years, and I weren't likely to make it another 5-10 years for this treatment to be deemed "safe and effective", could I try it at my own expense?
My uncle died of inoperative throat cancer. About a year afterwards, I read about a treatment that had just been approved by the FDA using radiation and finely controlled robots that could have saved his life. It was a long shot, but I don't think that he ever had the chance to consider it.
I know that this opens the door to all sorts of criminals, but it could save a lot of lives. Just a modest rant.
The world will not get better through technology. We must seek to be better people.
Having a general purpose mechanism for killing cells with specific, detectable differences is nice, but it isn't exactly new: most of cancer therapy is based on that premise. This particular mechanism sounds like it may give you more specificity, but there are already lots of ways of targeting cancer cells with high specificity.
The problem is that the more complex you make the molecules that kill cancer cells, the harder they get to deliver. You can think of RNAi as a simpler version of this "molecular computer", something that would probably already help in many cancers, and we can't even deliver something that comparatively simple reliably.
Weizmann Institute of Science disovers Cure for Cancer.
+1 happy citizen in each Israeli town.
My center is giving way, my right is in retreat; situation excellent. I shall attack.
The ONLY thing that will remotely cure cancer is to get rid of the environmental concerns that are causing it in the first place. Each and every one of us is sucking in carcinogenic dioxins into our body every second of every day. That's just for starters. Meybe if we started treating the causes, not just the symptoms, we might start getting somewhere.
Suppose this nanomachine could tell you that you would be dead from cancer in 10 years. Would you want to know? I mean, if it's incurable, wouldn't it be better to find out just before you died, rather than having to worry about it for 10 years?
This is America, damnit. Speak Spanish!
Problem is of course that goverments are rightly worried about experimenting on humans. So such trials are always small and need very strict guidelines for wich candidates are accepted. They don't want candidates who have multiple diseases since then they wouldn't know what is curing wich and wich other medicines are interering.
The bad news in your case is that there would hardly be a shortage of patients for who this the last change.
As someone who lost his mother to cancer at a young age. Applause to the researchers. Hope they have the magic bullet to get rid of cancer.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Even though i'm excited about the prospect of curing cancer, this type of technology scares me. What is out there stopping people from modifying these little computers to kill say.... white blood cells?
The fact that bullets, poison, etc., are a hell of a lot cheaper? It seems we have plenty of ways to kill people, and adding the potential for a few more isn't that big an issue.
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
There is probably a negative application for every medical innovation. If somebody wanted to make this kind of thing harmful they could. It would probably be simpler to alter an existing virus like smallpox. Compared to nuclear weapons developing a bio weapon is much cheaper, and has the potential for a much bigger impact.
Cowboy Neal did this April 29th.
DNA Computer Detects, Treats Disease
i know how hard it must be to search the Old Stories link for something as obvious as 'cancer'...
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage