August 16, 2007

Probes used in cancer research

Researchers at the University of Florida have been using molecular probes to detect the tiny differences that can be found in Leukaemia cells. By using samples from patients, they believe that the work could help to find more effective ways of treatment and detection of this illness.

The idea behind the science is that they use cancers cells as a sort of template, the process sees the probes or Aptamers attach a to the target cells, which the cancer cells and no other.

During the testing the researchers found that three of the six used found all types of cancer cell, yet ignored the normal blood and bone marrow cells.

Once the Aptamers have been proven they can be easily reproduced, and so this would be the first stage of finding a better treatment.

Source [UFL]