Brazilian wasp venom kills cancer cells by opening them up
Since we are on the subject of cancer - allow me to pen down a few thoughts for those interested in the subject.<p>(a) You already know that ...Cancer could be caused by hundreds of different mutations in the genome that would disrupt a cell cycle control pathway. Which means it becomes increasingly difficult to find a single bullet solution to all cancers.<p>(b) You already know that ... Even if you find a way to target cancer cells, how do you differentiate between good cells vs. bad cells<p>(c) You may kindda know that... Researchers are trying hard to find specific markers on the cancer cell membrane, to differentiate them from good cells and target them for destruction. The WASP venom thing is another idea ... but venoms have been known to target calcium/calmodulin channels. So nothing too fancy.<p>(d) You may not know that... The most promising research in cancer therapy is to disrupt metabolic pathways of cancer cells. You see, doesn't matter what pathway led to the cause of cancer ... but they all need food to divide. If you could terminate their food supply, disrupt a metabolic pathway .. then there is a chance of stopping them...as a generic bullet for all cancers, irrespective of what mutation caused it. Furthermore, the metabolic pathway of cancer cells and normal cells are distinguishable.<p>Read more: Warburg effect and a paper that was published this year: <a href="http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150626/SLU-researchers-find-way-to-stop-growth-of-cancer-cells-by-targeting-the-Warburg-Effect.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150626/SLU-researchers-fi...</a>