Advanced Anti-Cancer Drug Made From Engineered Algae

The other day I posted this on my FB. Well, I posted a few things but I'll talk about this one first.

Basically, the research is a culmination of 7 years of work on a type of algae called 'Chlamydomonas reinhardti' which biologists have managed to re-engineer to produce specific complex protein structures that can have therapeutic applications on humans, one of them the treatment of diseases such as pulmonary emphysema, protection against malaria, and of course, potentially a tailored cure for specific types of cancer.

As we enter an age of personalized medicine, where we need to customize treatments specific to each individual's case, such research becomes ever more an important requisite.

I personally cannot wait until we finally have all the ultimate cure for all cancers, and end all human disease altogether outright. Although cancer is a complex topic let alone human diseases, there are a good number of avenues of research tackling the problem today from nanotech to immunotherapy, so I remain optimistic.

I still think however that the final frontier to win this battle once and for all is ultimately to transcend our limited biological formats and I hope I can still be alive by then to see it become a reality. Otherwise I will just resort to cryopreservation for whatever hope or life in me remaining.

US Doctors Defeat Leukemia with Modified HIV

It seems we are finally starting to see some really definitive cures to specific types of cancers now, such as leukemia.

According to medicalxpress.com:

After fighting her disease with chemotherapy for almost two years and suffering two relapses, the young girl "faced grim prospects," doctors at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said. So in February this year they agreed to take her on in an experimental program that fought fire with fire. Helped by a genetically altered HIV virus—stripped of its devastating properties that cause AIDS—doctors turned the girl's own immune cells into a superior force able to rout the "aggressive" leukemia.

 There's more:

"It is impossible to catch HIV or any other infection. What's left is the property of the HIV virus that allows it to put new genes into cells." During the treatment, Emily became very ill and went into the intensive care unit, underlining how risky the procedure can be. However, drugs that partly block the immune reaction were administered, without interfering with the anti-leukemia action, and she recovered, the hospital said. The result was "complete" and best of all, the doctors say, the boosted immune shield continues "to remain in the patient's body to protect against a recurrence of the cancer." "She has no leukemia in her body for any test that we can do—even the most sensitive tests," Grupp told ABC television. "We need to see that the remission goes on for a couple of years before we think about whether she is cured or not. It is too soon to say."

 This is yet another victory for scientific progress! Let us all praise and hail the glory of science!