Research shocker: genetically engineered viruses seek out, kill cancer

New research at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Center seeks to turn the human body into a genetically engineered cancer-killing machine. The fact that the human body doesn't see cancer as a threat to be destroyed naturally is part of what makes treating it so difficult, so this research uses a harmless, HIV-like virus as the vehicle to carry T-cells (which fight disease) to lymphocytes, and simultaneously carry a reporter gene, which show up in positron emission tomography (PET) scanning, as you can see in the photographs above. So far the researchers have injected the cells into the bloodstreams of melanoma-infected mice, and they began to see evidence of their work within two or three days, and by ten days, it was obvious that in most cases, the cells were indeed fighting the cancer. The process, they admit, could take longer in human beings, and would require about one billion tumor seeking lymphocytes per person treated. They are currently working on creating a vehicle to safely carry the lymphocytes in the human body, and expect the human trial leg of the study to begin within one year.

you got that correct.

the industry is more interested in the $$$$ reaped
from failing to cure ab initio. hence the delays
and delays, where in europe that goes to years.

Viri have long been used in genetic modification of bacteria and somatic cells. Cancer cells have certain distint differences such as longer teleomeres and differences in cell membranes which make targeting possible. There also used extensively in bioengineering to insert plasmids into cells to add charicteristics for manufacturing purposes.

A virus can be modified to target very specific proteins or nucleic acids that are unique to different cell types.

Cancer cells usually become cancer cells due to a genetic mutation. Once that mutation is identified a virus can be made which targets that specific chain. In the presence of that chain it will be able to reproduce and lyse (pop) the cell. Without that mutated chain it will still infect the cell but will not be able to reproduce itself and lyse the host cell.

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