by Bennett Daviss
What if every time you flushed your toilet, it emptied into your food supply?
Researchers at the Institute of Basic Sciences in South Korea have found a way to do the same for cancer cells.
The parts of cells that take out the trash are called lysosomes. In cancer cells, they’re more vulnerable to disruption that other parts of the cells so are a popular target for experimental therapies. But no one has yet figured out how to damage cancer cells’ lysosomes without harming healthy tissue nearby.
The Korean team created a delicate balance of positively and negatively charged nanoparticles made from materials that cling to cancer tissue. The particles are absorbed by cancer cells. When the lysosomes try to remove them, the particles swell and explode the lysosomes. With no way to get rid of their waste, the cancer cells’ interiors become toxic and the cells die.
In experiments, the technique vanquished all 13 varieties of cancer tested.
