[HN Gopher] Molecular jackhammers' 'good vibrations' eradicate c...
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       Molecular jackhammers' 'good vibrations' eradicate cancer cells
        
       Author : geox
       Score  : 33 points
       Date   : 2023-12-19 20:53 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (news.rice.edu)
 (TXT) w3m dump (news.rice.edu)
        
       | bjnewman85 wrote:
       | paper link here
       | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-023-01383-y i thought this
       | sentence from the abstract was interesting 'Given that a cell is
       | unlikely to develop resistance to such molecular mechanical
       | forces...' I wonder if someone could explain what basis there for
       | believing that cells couldn't develop such resistance. Is the
       | difference in energies that high?
        
         | chrisbrandow wrote:
         | I think that the reasoning is that no cells will have even
         | partial resistance to mechanical action, therefore "fitness"
         | wouldn't develop in surviving cells. i.e. there's no fitness
         | function with improve upon. Perhaps the ability of these dye
         | molecules to infiltrate could be affected, but given the
         | fundamental structure of cells, that may not be a likely
         | outcome within a single human organism (since cancer is
         | generally non-communicative)
        
       | pitdicker wrote:
       | I wondered what makes these 'molecular jackhammers' attack only
       | cancer cells. The trick is that they are dye molecules, which can
       | be engineered to attach to a specific biomolecule.
        
         | Terr_ wrote:
         | Also the fact that they're activated/powered by an external
         | light source, meaning it's fine if they accidentally bind to
         | healthy cells as long as those cells are not within the area
         | getting beamed.
        
           | fnordpiglet wrote:
           | Would be better if it worked against ultrasound, xray, or
           | other focusable beams that can pass through flesh.
        
       | jessriedel wrote:
       | IN MICE (and lab cultures of human cells)
       | 
       | > the method had a 99 percent efficiency against lab cultures of
       | human melanoma cells, and half of the mice with melanoma tumors
       | became cancer-free after treatment.
       | 
       | Meme source: https://twitter.com/justsaysinmice?lang=en
        
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       (page generated 2023-12-19 23:01 UTC)