Will this Chinese-engineered ‘bacterial assassin’ transform cancer treatment?
Chinese researchers have engineered bacteria to selectively destroy tumors in mice, achieving an 80% reduction in colorectal, melanoma, and bladder cancer volumes and a 100% survival rate. This breakthrough, published in Cell, demonstrates a potential method for evading human immune responses while targeting and eliminating cancer cells, even vaccinating survivors against future tumor development.
The engineered bacteria, a strain of Salmonella typhimurium called "Designer Bacterium 1" (DB1), utilizes a synthetic biological "kill switch" to bridge a major gap in immunotherapy. This approach allows for the precise targeting of malignancies while mitigating the inherent dangers of using bacteria in treatment. Researchers suggest that most human tumors already possess a molecular "key" that could make this bacterial therapy a universal cancer cure.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Chinese researchers have engineered bacteria to selectively destroy tumors in mice, achieving an 80% reduction in colorectal, melanoma, and bladder cancer volumes and a 100% survival rate. This breakthrough, published in Cell, demonstrates a potential method for evading human immune responses while targeting and eliminating cancer cells, even vaccinating survivors against future tumor development.
The engineered bacteria, a strain of Salmonella typhimurium called "Designer Bacterium 1" (DB1), utilizes a synthetic biological "kill switch" to bridge a major gap in immunotherapy. This approach allows for the precise targeting of malignancies while mitigating the inherent dangers of using bacteria in treatment. Researchers suggest that most human tumors already possess a molecular "key" that could make this bacterial therapy a universal cancer cure.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
