FACTS:
Johns Hopkins scientists claim to have invented a minute device capable of tagging cancer cells, that makes them visible to the immune system, which then destroys them. Current, conventional methods, attempt to boost immune systems cancer-killing properties, or use drugs that have harmful and toxic side effects. Other immuno-therapies, called checkpoint inhibitors, have broad effects and often damage normal tissue. This new technology, allows doctors to individually engineer the therapy to target a tumor and its surrounding environment.
QUOTES:
Jordan Green, Ph.D and director of the biomaterials and drug delivery laboratory and a professor of biomedical engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine:
“…our process happens entirely within the body” … “requiring no external manipulation of a patient’s cells.” … “Cancer cells may be easier to directly genetically manipulate because their DNA has gone haywire, they divide rapidly, and they don’t have the typical checks and balances of normal cells,” … “The nanoparticle method we developed is widely applicable to many solid tumors despite their variability on an individual and tumor type level,”
Stephany Tzeng, Ph.D., a research associate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins:
“Essentially, we’re forcing the tumor to open itself up and instruct immune cells to kill it,”
SOURCE:
To read the source scientific journal for this article, click here.
