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Cancer Drug Found; Scientist Annoyed

Posted by kdawson on from the serendipity dept.

sporkme writes "A scientist was frustrated when the compound she was working with (called PPAR-gamma) destroyed her sample of cancer cells. Further research revealed that the substance was surprisingly well suited as a cancer treatment. Lab test results on mice resulted in the destruction of colon tumors without making the mice sick." Quoting: "'I made a calculation error and used a lot more than I should have. And my cells died,' Schaefer said. A colleague overheard her complaining. 'The co-author on my paper said, "Did I hear you say you killed some cancer?" I said "Oh," and took a closer look.' ... [They found that the compound killed] 'pretty much every epithelial tumor cell lines we have seen.'" Update: 02/15 17:27 GMT by KD : As reader CorporalKlinger pointed out, PPAR-gamma is a cellular receptor, not a compound; and this news is not particularly new.

3 of 349 comments (clear)

  1. We need a new meme by paiute · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For the love of RB Woodward's wine-guzzling ghost, I am sick of stories about compound X and how it is the next big thing and how it kills cancer cells stone dead in a Petri dish.

    Every other compound you can order from Aldrich will kill cancer cells in vitro. So will a ball peen hammer. Drano, playground sand, double-acting baking powder. Pledge will kill them and leave a lemony-fresh scent.

    When this compound gets to stage III clinical trials and does not leave a trail of bodies and does show some efficacy, then you can post the story.

    Until then, Netcraft confirms it. These cancer cells are dying.
    In the Soviet Union, cancer cells kill new drugs.
    etc

    --
    If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  2. Very True. Discovery of Teflon is another example. by g2devi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "Dr. Plunkett was under contract with the DuPont Company and was doing research on methods of creating non-toxic refrigerants that would have very specialized uses; however, upon beginning his original experiment he realized that he had a problem . When he went to open the tank of gaseous tetrafluoroethylene, no gas came out of the cylinder; instead the only thing that came from this was a great curiosity . What perplexed Plunkett was that the weight of the tank indicated that there should be a given amount of the fluorocarbon present in the tank, and that it simply hadn't leaked out. This puzzled Plunkett and caused him to investigate what was actually still in the "empty" tank; however, it was not until he sawed the tank open that he realized what had taken place. Inside the tank he found a white, waxy powder and concluded that these individual gas molecules had bonded together to form this incredible solid, teflon, that had some very promising chemical properties."

    Source: http://users.wfu.edu/starbt5/Serendipity%20Project /website/Serendipity.htm

  3. Re:You have to wonder by vorpal22 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Even more strange, but along the same lines, is the new and coming drug, Bremelanotide. It was created with the intention of being an artificial tanning agent, at which it succeeded, but a large number of the test subjects, both male and female, reported highly increased sexual arousal during the tests.

    It's fairly far along in clinical trials and seems very promising, making it the first recognized effective pharmaceutical aphrodisiac.