Scientists Discover a New Way to Create Immortal Cells
Berkeley Lab scientists have been working on one of mankind's greatest dilemma- the cure for cancer. They focused on a naturally occurring process in cells called cellular senescence, in which the cells stop dividing. They overcame two tumor- blocking barrier by introducing molecular agents in cancer and ultimately bypassed cellular senescence. One of these barriers being cellular stress Under great stress, mammary cells stops proliferating by inducing p16 molecule.
The scientists also focused on telomeres, sequence of DNA which prevents the ends of chromosomes from being damaged; however, telomeres get shorter after each cell division. The cell will stop dividing if the telomere becomes too short. By introducing a molecule called c-Myc, scientists were able to reactivate the enzyme that maintained telomeres.
This article stood out to me because I’m interested in the advances in cell immortalization. I remember my high school biology teacher has told us that telomeres could be the key to life. It would be revolutionary if these scientists were successful at maintaining telomeres in cells. in addition, by studying how the tumor cells are able to bypass the cell cycle barriers, researchers are a step closer to solving the cancer mystery.
Additional Reading: http://directorsblog.nih.gov/2013/08/07/hela-cells-a-new-chapter-in-an-enduring-story/
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