By using synthetic DNA, researchers have discovered a novel method of killing cancer cells that may one day lead to the disease’s curing.
The current cancer treatments have their limitations, but researchers think that medications based on RNA and DNA might be able to fight the deadly disease.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have employed chemically synthesised, hairpin-shaped cancer-killing DNA to target and destroy human cervical cancer and breast cancer-derived cells, according to findings that were published last week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Additionally, the DNA pairs were applied to mouse malignant melanoma cells.
The team of researchers at the University of Tokyo, led by Assistant Professor Kunihiko Morihiro and Professor Akimitsu Okamoto from the Graduate School of Engineering, indicated that they were inspired to move away from conventional anti-cancer drug treatments by using artificial DNA.
Notably, nucleic acids (namely DNA and RNA) drugs are not typically used for cancer treatment and have been challenging in the past given that it is difficult for them to distinguish between cancer cells and other healthy cells.
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