Whereas most chemotherapeutic agents attack the DNA of cancer
cells, by disrupting their replication or perhaps inducing
breaks in the helix, paclitaxel (or taxol as it is commonly
known) instead attacks the "microtubules" of cells. What is a
microtubule? In general, when cells are dividing into two
pieces, the DNA must be synthesized (for the new cell) and then
distributed into the two dividing sides. How does the cell put a
copy into the new cell, while leaving one in the old cell? The
science is more complicated than that. When DNA is made prior to
division, an entire new copy is made by breaking apart the
helix, and using each half as a template to generate two
helices. Each DNA helix is now a composite of an old half and a
new half! These two helices are usually stuck to each other. Now
that there are two DNA helices, these must be distributed
properly. The way the cell does it is by throwing out protein
filaments onto the DNA, latching it onto the cell membrane, and
then pulling it apart as the cells sp