Health & Medicine - Posted by Alison Trinidad-USC on Wednesday,
May 16, 2012 15:05 - 0 Comments To kill cancer, don’t let genes
go silent USC (US) — Researchers have identified a small number
of specific genes that need to be silenced for cancer cells to
survive. The discovery—detailed in the May 15 issue of Cancer
Cell—means the genes may be good targets for new, more effective
treatments. “We tracked down these genes and it’s the first time
that it’s been done,” says Peter Jones, professor of urology,
biochemistry, and molecular biology at the University of
Southern California (USC) and principal investigator of the
study. “If these genes are not silenced through DNA methylation,
the cancer cell dies.” Straight from the Source While normal,
healthy cells have a life cycle, cancer cells don’t—they grow
and multiply uncontrollably. Scientists have observed structural
differences between the two, but it has been difficult to
determine which differences drive the cell to avoid normal death
and which are consequ