Researchers in Griffith University Queensland, Australia have discovered a gene-editing technique that can eradicate Cervical Cancer.
Cervical Cancer is the world’s fourth most diagnosed type of cancer found in women across the world, according to the World Health Organisation. This astonishing fact makes the recent scientific breakthrough of Griffith University even more astounding.
Located in Queensland, Australia, Researchers were able to target cervical cancer tumours in mice using gene-editing techniques and stealth nanoparticles.
Professor Nigel McMillan, the lead researcher at Griffith, said that this is the first cancer cure using this technology.
In the underlying technique, the gene-editing tool (catchily named CRISPR-Cas9) is injected into the patient’s bloodstream via nanoparticles.
Those nanoparticles then hunt down the cancer-causing gene E7 and slice it in half. That means that when the cell naturally regenerates it doesn’t recognize the cancerous cells, meaning that a healthy cell is then generated.
Prof. McMillan compares the nanoparticles to a computer spellchecker. He explains – “This is like adding a few extra letters into a word so the spell checker doesn’t recognize it anymore. Cancer must have this gene to produce – once edited, it dies”.
After the experiments’ success, the mice had a 100 percent survival rate. Alongside his research partner Luqman Jabair, Prof. McMillan hopes to try the technique on humans within a short space of time.
As a matter of fact, they’ve applied for a grant already that can help them to test the gene-editing nanoparticle method on human subjects within the next five years.
