“By
genetically engineering diatom Algae - tiny, unicellular, photosynthesising Algae
with a skeleton made of nanoporous silica, we are able to produce an
antibody-binding protein on the surface of their shells”
Dr Nico Voelcker from
the University of South Australia, commenting on the use of diatom Algae to
kill cancer
A
cure to cancer may come in the form of Algae Neutraceutical.
Researchers
from the University of South Australia and Dresden, Germany have developed a
transgenic Diatom Algae that can kill cancer cells as reported in the article “Genetically
altered Algae mug cancer cells, leave innocent cells alone”, published
November 12, 2015 by Jenn Savedge, MNN.
This
as the body usually has a negative reaction to the chemotherapeutic drugs,
often causing damage to healthy tissue. However, by placing the molecules of
the toxic chemotherapeutic drugs inside of the genetically modified Diatom Algae,
they basically develop an organic drug delivery system that did not harm
healthy cells.
More
interestingly, tests done on mice and in-vitro human cells have demonstrated 90%
killing power using these transgenic Diatom Algae as a drug delivery mechanism.
So
how did the researchers achieve this incredible feat?
University of South
Australia and Dresden use transgenic Diatom Algae to kill Cancer - Guided
Missiles for chemotherapeutic drugs
The
researchers had genetically modified Diatom Algae with antibody-binding protein
on the surface of their silica shells as noted in the article “Genetically
engineered Algae kills 90% of cancer cells without harming healthy ones”,
published November 10, 2015 by Hannah Osborne, International
Business Times.
Their
transgenic Algae was developed using Diatom Algae which measures four to six
micrometres in diameter. It has with a porous skeleton made of silica and only
needs water and light to grow.
The
researchers realized that the Diatom Algae, with its pill-like shape, was the
perfect vehicle to carry chemotherapeutic drugs. Best of all, because it
already naturally occurring and its genome is well known, it’s easy to
generically modify to attack other specific types of cancerous growths in the
human body.
This
is somewhat similar to the idea of using melittin to kill the HIV (Human
Immuno-Deficiency Virus), the causative agent behind AIDS (Acquired
Immuno-deficiency Syndrome) as explained in my blog article
entitled “How
Washington University School of Medicine Researchers use Liposomes and Melittin
to kill HIV” .
Thus
it made sense to the researchers to re-engineer the Diatom Algae as a drug
delivery mule...er. ...I mean nanoparticle drug delivery system, as it was
cost-effective to quote Dr. Nico Voelcker from the University of South
Australia, one of the authors of the study: “Although it is still early days,
this novel drug delivery system based on a biotechnologically tailored, renewable
material holds a lot of potential for the therapy of solid tumours including
currently untreatable brain tumours”.
This
means that the Diatom Algae with the antibody-binding protein would only bind
to the cancer cells that had the same antibody protein, thereby delivering the
chemotherapeutic drugs to the cancerous cells only and leaving the healthy
cells alone.
In
Engineering terms, this is basically the equivalent of firing guided missile at
the cancer cells but using conventional warheads to deliver the killing effect
as explained by Dr Nico Voelcker from the University of South Australia,
quote: “Anti-cancer chemotherapeutic
drugs are often toxic to normal tissues. To minimize the off-target toxicity,
the drugs can be hidden inside the antibody-coated nanoparticles. The antibody
binds only to molecules found on cancer cells, thus delivering the toxic drug
specifically to the target cells”.
Quite
a mouthful which translates to mean that a cure for cancer may be just around
the corner along with source of food to
feed starving millions in the future. All thanks to transgenic Diatom Algae!
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