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Gene Therapy Ages Human Cancer Cells in Lab
mattr writes "Korean scientists are the first in the world to selectively age off and kill human cancer cells, by injecting a gene that suppresses telomerase, a cancer-specific enzyme that normally makes cancer cells immortal by protecting the telomere tips of their chromosomes. The telomere length modulation mechanism was found by two scientists from Yonsei University and colleagues at U. Central Florida, and is reported in the April 1 issue of Genes and Development magazine."
This is incredible in theory, but what time frame are we talking about in humans once this gene is injected? Will it adversely affect human cells? I read it targets a cancer specific enzyme but am I missing anything? Could this be a cure, after the fact? (Bio-Medical newbie here).
Be True, Unbeliever
well, are you going to forget? I'm not.
so long as we remember and make sure to cite and post what we remember and write articles for wikipedia on what we remember then such things will not be forgotten or overlooked.
these days "they" are less and less often the media and the journals.
"They" is becomming "us", and I love it.
If telomerase makes cancer cells immortal, is someone working on a way to make, uh, non-cancer cells immortal?
I think loosing fertility is a suitable side-effect for most people with cancer. If this works 100% or at least if you can tell if it will work or if it won't, then most people will be happy to give up their fertility in exchange for ridding their body of a potentially deadly enzyme. Also, this will be a wonder drug for seniors, who could most likely care less about fertility and who chemotherapy will make incredibly weak and not worth living.
Infertility is also a side-effect of, well, being dead because of cancer.
If you were given the choice between being alive but infertile or being dead, which one would you choose?
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I know it sounds very progressive to make those sort of assertions, but they don't have much merit. Anyone with even a rudimentary scientific background will tell you that key scientific breakthroughs come from all over. As a matter of fact, in the past few years there has been a considerable amount of concern within the American scientific community over the lag in American research and publication. Research just isn't a priority anymore in America, and we are beginning to feel the effect.
My guess is that the Korean scientists will keep their credit, just like the Koreans scientists who recently successfully generated stem cells from somatic adult tissues, just like the Dutchman who came up with the microscope, just like the Moravian monk who counted peas, just like the Swede Botanist retained credit for the Linnaean classification, just like the Russian Chemist retained credit for the periodic table, just like 10th century Arabs retained credit for much of Algebra, just like citizens of Greek city-states retain credit for beginning to formalize reason.
The capacity for human genius is universal, and in the reality based community known as science, we appreciate that. It belittles the intellects of foreign researchers and the hard work of American scientists to say otherwise.
afaik, telomerase breaks down telomeres, no matter what kind of cell you have.
That's upside-down. Telomeres automatically shorten themselves with every cell division. Cells with very short telomeres die. This acts to limit cell divison, and probably exists (among other reasons) to limit runaway growth like cancer. Telomerase is not involved in this process at all, and in fact is not present in most normal cells.
Telomerase acts to lengthen telomeres so that the cells in question can keep dividing. Telomerase exists likely so that cell which do need to divide forever (like germ cells and bone marrow cells) can overcome the telomere limit imposed on the rest of the body.
afaik, telomerase breaks down telomeres, no matter what kind of cell you have.
Again, that's backwards. Most cancer cells express telomerase where the normal cell wouldn't. This lengthens the telomeres and allows cell division to continue.
Thus, inhibiting telomerase will re-impose the division limit on cancer cells, suppressing tumor growth. That's what this study claims to do.
Summary:
Telomere: passive cancer suppressor/division limiter present in every cell.
Telomerase: enzyme to allow a few special-case cells to keep dividing despite telomeres.
Cancer: often turns on telomerase in cell types where it should be dormant.
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