February 7, 2008

Why cancer cells grow

Researchers have been working on what makes a cancer cell work, and how to identify the genes that make the cancer cell divide in the first place. As it is the growth of these cells that is very dangerous, if a way was found to somehow stop this from happening then this would be a very useful tool for use in the treatment of cancer related illnesses.

But this is very serious work and involves slowing down the genes in the human body, but the problem is that many of the genes are shared, so by slowing one down could have an affect on something else.

The researchers have however identified between 88 and 157 genes, but these are shared, with around 20 being shared right across the gene lines. So it would seem that it may not be likely that a universal treatment will be found, it will probably involve having to identify the bad genes by going through the complete process over and over again.

Source [Ars Technica]