Metastatic Cancer in Animal Model, Effectively Destroyed by CRISPR Technique

In the midst of technological advancement, researchers and scientists continue to discover many ways to treat different kinds of diseases and conditions. In finding new ways to treat cancer's horror, humanity's adversary for many years, researchers from Tel Aviv University showed that the CRISPR/Cas9 system is significantly effective in treating metastatic cancers.

According to the American Cancer Society, metastatic cancer has spread from the body's part where it started to other parts of the body. They also added that cancer cells break away from a tumor; they can travel to other parts of the body through the bloodstream or the lymph system. They further said that if the cells travel through the lymph system, they can spread to nearby lymph nodes and spread to other organs. American Cancer Society stresses that some of the cancer cells die during the process. However, some of the cancer cells survive and may settle in a new area and start developing.

With VP for R&D, Professor Dan Peer's laboratory as the research site, the release by Tel Aviv University stated that the research was made possible in collaboration with prestigious research facilities and organization such as the School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics at Tel Aviv University, Boston Children's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School.

(Photo: ID 905513)

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How does CRISPR work?

According to Professor Peer in the release, their research is the first study globally, proving that the CRISPR genome editing system can be reassigned to treat cancer effectively in a living animal. He also emphasized the release that CRISPR is different from chemotherapy. He also stresses that no side effects and a cancer cell treated this way will never be active again. He further said that the molecular scissors of Cas9 cut the cancer cell's DNA, which results in the neutralization and permanent prevention of the cancer cell's replication.

Methods and results of the study

The release also mentioned that the researchers used the two deadliest cancers, glioblastoma and metastatic ovarian cancer. The researchers demonstrated that a single treatment with CRISPR-LNPs doubled the energy and the life expectancy of mice with glioblastoma tumors improving the survival rate by about 30%. On the other hand, metastatic ovarian cancer, when treated with CRISPR-LPNs, increased the model's overall survival rate by 80%. According to Professor Peer, the CRISPR genome editing technology's capability to identify and change any genetic segment has revolutionized the ability to disrupt, replace, or repair genes in a personalized manner. He also added that notwithstanding the extensive use of CRISPR in research, clinical enactment is still far because an effective delivery system is vital to safely and accurately deliver the CRISPR to its target cells, which in the researchers' case targeted the DNA accountable for the survival of cancer cells.

According to the researchers in the release, demonstrating CRISPR's potential in treating aggressive cancers opens a vast area of possibilities for treating other types of cancers, rare genetic diseases, and chronic viral diseases like AIDS. The researchers plan to experiment with genetic blood cancers and other genetic diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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