In a big breakthrough, researchers at Tel Aviv University have used CRISPR Cas-9 to kill off cancer cells. CRISPR-Cas9 is a technology that allows doctors to edit parts of the genome by editing sections of the DNA sequence.
Destroying cancerous cells without damaging others
Israeli scientists have successfully used innovative technology to destroy cancerous cells in mice without damaging others. This treatment is so precise; it’s like using “tiny scissors” to target the cells.
The treatment can replace chemotherapy in future
Professor Dan Peer, Director of the Laboratory of Precision Nano-Medicine at Tel Aviv University is hopeful that this treatment will be ready to be administered to humans in two years. He foresees that this treatment will eventually go on to replace chemotherapy.
The brains behind this technology Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry this year.
Peer said, “There are no side effects, and we believe that a cancer cell treated in this way will never become active again.”
“This technology can extend the life expectancy of cancer patients and we hope, one day, to cure the disease.”
“If we can use this technology, then within three treatments we can destroy a tumor. This technology can physically cut the DNA in cancerous cells, and those cells will not survive,”
