Tumour Tamer

researchers have found a gene that may help combat cancer and degenerative diseases linked to ageing. The gene has been cloned by two teams of researchers separately - one led by Thomas Cech, a biochemist at the University of Colorado and the other by Robert Weinberg, a biochemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, usa. The gene would control the activity of the telomerase enzyme in human cells ( Time , Vol 150, No 9).

With ageing of the human body, when a cell divides to form new cells, it sheds a small part of the dna - telomeres that protect chromosomes. But after several divisions, a time comes when telomeres do not have the potential to shield chromosomes. This process is unlike in cancer cells, which produce telomerase, an enzyme that protects and rebuilds telomeres. Researchers have been working for long to find a drug that would stop production of telomerase and eventually lead to the death of cancer cells.

With the help of the new gene, the researchers should be able to control the protein level in human cells, which is the most important building block for telomerase. The protein has an identical property or an enzyme produced by the retinovirus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ( aids). A drug called azt has shown potential to inhibit telomerase activity.

Though the discovery is considered to be immense use, experts say it may take a long time before it could be tested on humans to determine its efficacy.

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