Bioelectric cancer hack

• Autores: Jessica Hamzelou
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3065, 2016, pág. 8
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Researchers have used light to shift the charge of cancer cells in frogs, making them healthy again. Instead of using drugs to target ion channels, Michael Levin's team is using optogenetics. This technique involves injecting a gene into cells that makes a light-sensitive protein. Shining a laser on these newly sensitive cells can then alter their behavior in different ways, depending on the protein used. To see if optogenetics can change the flow of ions into a cell to revert it to a non-dividing state, Levin's team have turned to frog embryos, which are particularly easy to work with. They inserted a gene that predisposes animals to cancer, adding a gene for a light-activated ion channel at the same time. A week later, the tadpoles had hatched and developed tumors. When the team pointed a laser at the tadpoles, around a third of the tumors stopped developing.