Friday, March 21, 2014

Breaking Brain Tumors

Taking a break from all things arts and photography. I don't read up on a lot in the world of medical science, but every once in a while something holds my attention.

This one from the Business Standard in their Science feed. Cancer basically "hijacks" the good cells and then takes over as a parasite. This is especially intense in Gioblastoma cancers of the brain where they follow minute nerve fibers and blood vessels. But a new med team at Georgia Tech led by Ravi Bellamkonda is developing a synthetic microfibre that mimics these natural brain fibers and then "lures" them to a tumor-collecting gel instead of healthy cells. Here they are exposed to cyclopamine, which is toxic to the cancer cells and kills them off. Think of it as sort of a sticky mouse trap for cancer!

The thought behind this, is moving the infected areas from somewhere remote and inaccessible to a pod where it can then be removed. If this proves effective, it could basically make it a chronic condition rather than a terminal illness. Good thing to know!

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