It is a sad fact: Anticancer drugs not only allow tumors cells to build up resistance to that drug over time, but can even help them resist other chemotherapy drugs, too.
 The humble firefly is helping shed light on ways to destroy cancer tumor cells. |
City of Hope researchers are looking to the firefly to bring light, and maybe a little serenity, to this troubling situation.
Scientists have long known a gene called mdr1 is responsible for multidrug resistance. In an attempt to better understand how it works, a City of Hope team led by Susan Kane, Ph.D., professor in the Division of Tumor Cell Biology has used genetic engineering to combine mdr1 with the gene that allows fireflies to shine.
Now, when mdr1 is active in Dr. Kane's lab samples, researchers can track it by the glow it gives off.
Because mdr1 exists in a variety of tumors, Dr. Kane's research may light the way to treatments for several cancers. It sounds like science fiction, but it is everyday fact at City of Hope, thanks to generous friends like you.
