A crack team, earlier
If you have a problem, if no-one else can help, and if you can find them… maybe you can hire…
…well, unfortunately, the heroes of that infamous 1980s TV action show aren’t much good at molecular biology, and are unlikely to crack the biggest problems in cancer.
So Cancer Research UK has had to come up with a better plan.
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Cancer Research UK-funded research, Cancer Treatment, Cancer in the news, Chemotherapy & Drugs | 
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Posted by Kat Arney
But this is starting to change, as studies get more sophisticated. For example, a new piece of research published this week in Nature Genetics identifies two rare versions of the genes ADH1B and ADH7 that can lessen the harmful effects of alcohol in causing cancer in people who carry them.
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Gene-environment, Genes, Health & Lifestyle, Science | 
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Posted by Ed Yong
“Nanotechnology” – technology on a microscopic scale – has been one of the scientific buzzwords bandied about most often in recent years.
Its potential applications cut across the whole of science and engineering – from making stronger, lighter tennis rackets to delivering cancer drugs – and scientists and engineers around the world are rushing to bring new products to market that exploit nano-scale substances and devices.
But the field has always had a whiff of controversy about it, notably with Prince Charles predicting, in a 2004 speech, that the world could be overrun by self-replicating ‘grey goo’ nanomachines.
2 Comments | 
Cancer in the news, Mesothelioma, Scientific papers | 
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Posted by Henry Scowcroft
It’s an inescapable fact that drug development costs money. Current estimates suggest that its costs are spiralling towards US$1 billion for just one cancer drug to make the journey from a twinkle in a scientist’s eye to a treatment in the clinic.
But as well as being an expensive time for drug development, it’s also an exciting one. We are now witnessing a wave of ‘next-generation’ drugs, specifically designed to hit biological targets in cancer cells while leaving healthy tissues unharmed.
But given the costs of developing drugs, hard decisions need to be made. Pharmaceutical companies may develop many chemical compounds with interesting anti-cancer properties, but even the biggest don’t always have the resources to develop them all further. This means that potentially life-saving drugs end up stuck gathering dust on their shelves.
Leave a Comment » | Cancer Research UK-funded research, Cancer Treatment, Cancer in the news, Chemotherapy & Drugs | Permalink
Posted by Kat Arney
Peer pressure is the bane of a parent’s life. Anyone who has children, or indeed works with them, knows how blithely they will ignore an adult’s instructions, only to jump out of a tree if their mates recommend it.
But a group of UK researchers have found a way to turn peer pressure to their advantage – by encouraging cool kids to put their friends off smoking.
4 Comments | Cancer Prevention, Risks & Causes, Smoking | Tagged: Health, Smoking prevention, Tobacco | Permalink
Posted by Ed Yong
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