Silencing the saboteur

American researchers say that a
gene believed to be overactive in
most types of cancer can be silenced
in the mouse by using a stretch of
designer DNA. Once the gene has
been sabotaged, say researchers led
by Yoon Cho-Chung of the US
National Cancer Institute in
Bethesda, Maryland, the cancer cells
stop dividing rapidly (New Scientist,
Vol 146, No 1981).

The team, which made strands
of DNA with base sequence needed
to sabotage a gene that encodes for a
protein called protein kinase type 1,
hope their findings will lead to effective treatment for human cancer.