‘Capsule could stop growth of cancer cells’

Feb 07, 2013 |

Scientists have developed a nanocapsule which they claim could kill cancer cells and halt growth of tumours without damaging healthy cells in the body. Researchers led by University of California —Los Angeles have developed a degradable nanoscale shell to carry proteins to cancer cells and stunt the growth of tumours.

The team led by Yi Tang developed tiny shells composed of a water-soluble polymer that safely deliver a protein complex to the nucleus of cancer cells to induce their death.
The shells, which at about 100 nanometres are roughly half the size of the smallest bacterium, degrade harmlessly in non-cancerous cells.
The process does not present the risk of genetic mutation posed by gene therapies for cancer, or the risk to healthy cells caused by chemotherapy, which does not effectively discriminate between healthy and cancerous cells, Tang said.

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