An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a unique cancer treatment method based on the use of "programmable" microbes capable of devouring tumors from within. Using the bacterium Clostridium sporogenes, which naturally reproduces in an oxygen-free environment, scientists were able to direct it directly into the nuclei of solid tumors. This is reported by Science Daily, writes UNN.
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The main obstacle to the use of soil bacteria was their death upon contact with oxygen at the edges of the tumor, which prevented the complete destruction of cancer cells.
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To solve this problem, Professor Mark Okoine's team introduced an oxygen tolerance gene from related microorganisms. To control this process, the scientists used a quorum-sensing mechanism – a kind of "electrical circuit" of DNA chains that activates the protective functions of bacteria only when their concentration inside the tumor reaches a certain level.
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During experiments, the researchers confirmed the system's operability by programming microbes to produce a glowing protein at the moment of activation of the necessary genes.
According to Professor Brian Ingalls, this approach allows for the creation of biological systems with predictable behavior, which excludes the growth of bacteria in oxygen-rich areas of the body, such as the bloodstream. The next stage of the project will be to combine the control system and endurance genes into a single organism for preclinical trials on living models.