Natural Algae Nanoparticles Only Kill Cancer Cells
Killing Only The Cancer Cells – Algae Nanoparticles May Succeed In That Dream
Algae Nanoparticles were new to me until today, but how often have you thought about cancer? I know I have … it is in just about everybody’s family tree now – somewhere.
And how many times have you thought about “the cure is worse than the disease”? I know I have.
So what if I told you there might be a way to kill only the cancerous tumor cells that even the best doctors can’t operate on. Would you be excited? I know I would.
I just lost a mother to inoperable brain cancer, and she lost her sister before her to the same disease. When it’s my time, I’m hoping science and medicine will have a better answer for me than they had for them.
And it sounds like that just might be the case.
Take a look at what I mean in the article that follows. It is definitely worth a read and a share ….
Algae has been engineered to kill cancer cells and leave healthy cells unharmed
Signe Dean
12 NOV 2015Scientists have genetically engineered tiny algae to kill up to 90 percent of cancer cells in the lab, while leaving healthy ones unharmed, and the treatment has also been shown to effectively treat tumours in mice without doing damage to the rest of the body.
Developing medicine that only attacks tumour cells and leaves the rest of the body alone is one of the biggest challenges in cancer drug therapy. Such targeted chemotherapy helps to avoid some of the devastating side-effects associated with typical chemo treatment, when all fast-dividing cells in the body are bombarded with toxic drugs – including hair follicles, nails, and bone marrow.
That’s why researchers have been working on nanoparticle-based cancer drug delivery, and have been sending drug-loaded, porous silica particles into the body to target tumour cells. However, the manufacturing of these types of nanoparticles is expensive and requires industrial chemicals, such as hydrofluoric acid.
Now an international team of scientists from Australia and Germany have genetically engineered a diatom algae that can get the synthetic nanoparticle job done just as nicely.
… “By genetically engineering diatom algae – tiny, unicellular, photosynthesising algae with a skeleton made of nanoporous silica, we are able to produce an antibody-binding protein on the surface of their shells,” said lead author and nanomedicine expert Nico Voelcker.Such antibody-laden diatom nanoparticles only bind to molecules found in cancer cells, where they can release drugs. This makes it the targeted therapy researchers are looking for.
… Not only did the algae successfully kill roughly 90 percent of cancer cells in a dish while sparing healthy human cells, they also reduced tumour growth in mice after a single injected dose …
For the full article please see ScienceAlert.com
Cover Photo Credit: Wikimedia
