Israeli scientists claimed it destroyed a cancer cells from mice using a 'tiny scissors' to target the cells is a groundbreaking discovery to treat cancer patients.
A research team in Tel Aviv University who uses CRISPR Cas-9 gene editing system which allows scientists to make precise alterations to DNA is said to be the first in the world.
“This is the first study in the world to prove that the CRISPR genome editing system, which works by cutting DNA, can effectively be used to treat cancer in an animal,” said Prof. Dan Peer, a cancer expert whose research was published in the Science Advances journal.
“There are no side effects, and we believe that a cancer cell treated in this way will never become active again,” he said. "This technology can extend the life expectancy of cancer patients and we hope, one day, cure the disease," he added.
The research utilizes genome-editing technology using targeted lipid nanoparticles for cancer therapy.
“If we can use this technology, then within three treatments we can destroy a tumor. This technology can physically cut the DNA in cancerous cells, and those cells will not survive,” Peer explained.
The scientists used the technique on hundreds of mice — and Peer said the method could potentially be used on humans within two years.
The study focused on two types of cancers — glioblastoma, an aggressive type of cancer that can occur in the brain or spinal cord, and metastatic ovarian cancer.
Researchers found that mice with cancer who received the treatment had double the life expectancy of the control group, and their survival rate was 30 percent higher, the news outlet reported.
He also hope that one day the technology could replace chemotherapy treatment.
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