Researchers often look to nature for healing. An international team has thus decided to copy viruses to treat cancer. Viruses have the ability to infect cells in the human body and pass on their genetic makeup to them to reproduce. Here, the genes of the virus are replaced by the anti-cancer drug, and the viral strain is rendered harmless. Another particularity is the size of this system. It is actually a nanoparticle, an element 50,000 times thinner than a hair.
For this study published in ACS Nano, the researchers copied the envelope of the blue tongue virus, which attacks ruminants but not humans. This capsule has a cavity large enough to slide in molecules and proteins to be transported into the tumor. It is also easy to produce with high purity.
Target cancer cells
But the scientists did not stop there, they wanted to make the capsule from plants, to minimize the risk of contamination of the device by human pathogens. Engineers therefore designed the nanoparticle through chemical and genetic modifications. They then loaded the anti-cancer molecule inside. Laboratory tests have shown that the capsule moves well towards the tumor and injects the product it contains inside diseased cells. These results encourage scientists to use nanoparticles in the fight against cancer.
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