Agence France-Presse reports that Yonsei University scientists report the successful genetic engineering of a virus that eats cancer. And, they say, only cancer. When injected into tumors 90% of the tumorous cells disappear within 60 days.
Wow. “Cure for cancer” is a punchline for impossible. If this discovery bears fruit, Korean science really will be at the forefront of world achievements. One of the consequences, though, of the Hwang Woo Suk debacle is that even if this discovery is genuine, it’s going to take a lot of extra scrutiny to pass — just because the origin is Korea.
The base virus is an adenovirus, which causes the common cold. While a cure for cancer will be an awesome advance, I’m not so sure how I feel about the development of a flesh-eating virus which possibly is as communicable as the common cold.
Watch this space for an exhilarating/humiliating denouement in 18 months. Or get ready for the end of the world when this thing breaks loose and starts gobbling up your relatives.
37 Comments
Sounds interesting. If its real, its an amazing achievement. If it mutates and starts killing people, then people will curse Korean science.
I hope its real, but these days we see to many reports like this that ultimately lead to nothing.
> If it mutates and starts killing people…
THE HOST 2!
I was thinking the same thing: I wonder how it could be blamed on the US Army?
Weird–looking for other versions of that story (because AFP is a really unreliable news agency) I found this:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/new.....312061.htm
(Another AFP story…) Which sounds like a completely different discovery. How many cancer cures have S. Korean scientists come up with?
I don’t get it. I thought there already was a cure for cancer. From my understanding, the cure is called kimchi. I even heard that eating kimchi before sleeping will prevent fan death. But I could be wrong.
Actually this is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Scientists at several medical centers around the world are working on similar bio-engineering projects, specifically genetically altered viruses that can target cancer cells.
That South Korean scientists have produced a vector that is successful is completely plausible given the successful work that they’ve done in the past. It’s not like Hwang Woo-Suk was the only scientist Korea has ever had.
Not to get too long-winded but using manipulated viruses as vectors for delivering genetic material is not a a new strategy. It’s been used successfully, and unsuccessfully–sometimes with bad results–in a number of other genetic therapies. They are engineered to no longer be communicable and to only specifically target certain specific parts of cancer DNA.
I think what’s not clear from the article is that no all cancer is the same. So, the Korean adenovirus may be effective against a certain type of cancer cell, but not necessarily all of them. And, just because a tumor occurs at a different site does not mean it is a different type of cancer. This new adenovirus may be a cure for some cancer, but it doesn’t mean it will be a cure for all cancer.
Also, be prepared for years of testing before this treatment becomes available clinically.
Sorry to inject reality into the levity, but I couldn’t resist.
True that there are a lot of S.K. scientists who were doing promising work and got buried under the Hwang debacle.
The real concern would be the ability of any engineered virus and mutate into something that was worse than cancer. Virii are extremely mutagenic and adaptable, thus I find the thought of such to be less than encouraging.
Yes, this could be the backdrop for a real “Host” monster that was far worse than the allegoric nonsense from the first Host film.
Wait a minute. I’ve been eating kimchi 3 times a day for years “cuz it cures cancer” and now I find out this “science” thingy may do so. And if science doesn’t…in either respect I have a Korean lying to me. They’ve got all the angles covered.
Well now, I’ve never actually seen any claim that kimchi “cures cancer”, although it is widely claimed that it contains antioxidants and vitamins, especially vitamin C, at higher levels than in average foods, which have been shown in numerous studies to have some effects in preventing cancer from developing, or slowing down once it has appeared…
Or, are we just having some usual Korea-bashing fun here, and I should quit with the seriousness…?
A Korean lying to you? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t believe it.
I’m sure the flesh-eating virus isn’t anything more than what a good hearty bowl of chicken soup could cure.
In any event, this ought to mark the end of the world, a cure for cancer.
–Remort
The seriousness is better at the tours.
Anyways, sanshinseon, you got me. My bad. I should have written “cures bird flu”. Or was it “cures hypochondria”?
Baduk - aka “The Talking Cat” - please weigh in.
I was just thinking about quiting tabaco but no need now.
1. Kimchi is made of cabbage and that anti-cancer link has been arround forever.
Using an adenovirus to target cancer cells is not something new. Definately not something Korean. Actually, other viruses can be used as vectors as well. Anyway, adenovirus mediated “gene therapy” is something that countless labs are studying. Very few people have actually benefited from gene therapy to date…actually, Cat’s description is a great. Read that. No need to fear of some super virus that will mutate and kill off the world.
I doubt that anyone would read more about it, but here you go.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/en.....;DB=pubmed
There is no mention of this story in any of Korean newspapers. None. Not even a hint.
This looks like another “professor-running-out-of-research-money-embellished-results” story, aka pulling Hwang (or Wang).
As noted, the selectivity of attack is the key. If the virus attacks other vital organs while eating up the cancel cells, all bets are off. You cannot use a cure which eats up liver, lungs, heart, eyes, testicles, mamory glands, etc.
I think the professors already did some study and got a bad result. Yet, they embellish and ask for more money, aka pulling Hwang. They want to drive a BMW just like any other politicians. That’s right; scientists are quickly becoming politicians, with the same zeal to lie to public and get “gelt”.
Money makes the world go around.
“Not to get too long-winded”…Cat, please do. You aren’t the only one here who has an obvious affinity for molecular biology.
Pure bullshit, as usual.
You make it almost too easy, baduk.
http://news.naver.com/news/rea.....enu_id=103
http://news.naver.com/news/rea.....enu_id=105
http://news.naver.com/news/rea.....enu_id=102
I would think it’s patently obvious that Baduk’s world isn’t the fact-based world the rest of us inhabit. Hallucinogens will do that to you.
As for the ‘cure for cancer’, I would hold off on taking up smoking again just a little while. Until there’s a clinical trial with favorable results, there just isn’t any guarantee that it’ll actually work in non-laboratory conditions.
Could this have something to do with telomeres, the bits at the ends of chromosomes that effectively determine how many times cells can reproduce, or some such thing? It’s been years since I read an article about them, but something like 90% cancers in mammals feature corrupted telomeres that enable indefinite cellular reproduction—hence, tumours.
Actually, telomeres seem to have a lot to do with why we grow old and die. There’s a fairly unreadable Wikipedia article here, and there was an excellent Scientific American article on aging and/or telomeres back in the mid 90s…around late 94 or 95, I vaguely recall.
What I mean is, could these cells be able to detect whatever enzyme or protein or what have you is present in cancer cells that prevents telomeres from shortening over generations? If so, then maybe such cells really can destroy cancer cells and leave other cells intact. But I’d hope to see a lot of testing on this one….
Speaking of Hwang, maybe this is good in a way…if these scientists’ discovery really is credible and they can survive all of the hoops they’ll have to jump through because of the Hwang scandal, then that’ll really help to put Korean biosciences back on the map and clear up the stigma of the stem cell scam.
Ah, okay…as others have pointed out, this stuff (treating cancer cells with virii) is not new. What the Yonsei scientists have done is to genetically modify the virii in such a way that they are more efficient and thorough in killing cancer cells than in the past. (I know, genetically modifying a cell-eating virus sounds pretty freaky!)
Yes Baduk sounds a bit nuts as usual, but you do have to cut him some slack when he calls out Korean researchers for fabricating results. Baduk was harping the Hwang was full of it for quite a long before he was proven correct.
Baduk said: This looks like another “professor-running-out-of-research-money-embellished-results” story, aka pulling Hwang (or Wang).
I think the professors already did some study and got a bad result. Yet, they embellish and ask for more money, aka pulling Hwang. They want to drive a BMW just like any other politicians. That’s right; scientists are quickly becoming politicians, with the same zeal to lie to public and get “gelt”.
Money makes the world go around.
I suppose that’s entirely possible. But Korean scientists got burnt extremely badly by Hwang-gate. There were all kinds of horror stories about papers being rejected for publication in the science journals because the principal authors were Korean. I sincerely doubt that another bio-research team would deliberately try to pull another Hwang-style scandal when the memory of the original one is still fresh in the collective thoughts of the peer-review community.
That’s right; scientists are quickly becoming politicians, with the same zeal to lie to public and get “gelt”.
That is because with the overall increase in global competition, esp from China and India, there is more of an emphasis and pressure these days on the applied potential of any research in any endeavor. In the good old days, like when famed institutions like IBM Research Labs and AT&T Bell Laboratories were at their prime, federal funding was almost unlimited and scientists could freely pursue even the most arcane, pie-in-the-sky type of research. Now, there is too much focus on practical applications, with commerical potentials, because much of the funding is now coming from private interests, venture capital, etc. This is true in the US as well as anywhere else, including Korea.
Thanks, dogbertt, for bringing those articles to my attention. When I mentioned the mainstream newspapers, I meant Chosun, DongA and JoongAng only.
I tracked down the article, http://jncicancerspectrum.oxfo.....98/20/1482 and read it. Relaxin does not increase the selectivity nor it kills the tumor cells. Adenovirus does the killing. Relaxin helps the virus to penetrate into tumor, the authors claim.
The altered virus was injected near the tumor and the virus starts killing cells. There seems to be no evidence that altered virus distinguishes healthy cells from tumor cells.
Although the researchers claim their altered virus spreads into tumor cells better, this is not a significant advance. A minor modification at best. Important (if their claim is verified by other labs) but not a major breakthrough.
Other labs must be inserting genes into adenovirus as well. And, these altered virus may have different property. This claim by Korean scientists seems to exaggerate the effect of relaxin substitution. Their results have to verified by an independent labs.
Inserting other genes (insulin genes, other protein genes) into the virus may produce more interesting results.
Prof. Yun is quite a looker. If she starts to bribe some reporters and fly to the US and give talks on how her virus can cure cancer, you may have another Hwang on your hand.
My guess is that she wouldn’t. Hwang was a f***ing agricultural study professor. Not even a real scientist.
Prof. Yun is a faculty of Yonsei medical school. Not a fake. A real scientist. She may lie here and there, but would not tell a subordinate to produce evidences through Photoshop program. Only a f***ing liar like Hwang would do that. And, the Scottish liar, Dr. Wilmut.
At least, Dr. Yun did not pay reporters who write to three main newspapers. If she had done that, she might have received more attention, and more money. She may have some honesty in her. ( But, she may used a picture of her youth).
Oh stop it, Baduk! Question their methodology or findings if you must, but c’mon, you’re getting carried away! There are so many posts these days where you can engage in commie-bashing, which is what you’re most entertaining at anyhow. (But after reading your last comment, I had to check it out, and yes, she is a looker.)
That’s terrible what we do to mice. We should concentrate on eliminating all the harmful crap available for consumption and stop torturing innocent creatures.
R. Elgin, it’s “viruses”, not “virii”.
“Virii” is not a functional word.
Sorry for being snarky, baduk. You are right, it was not carried in a leading daily.
But it was reported by YTN and SBS, which I would consider major.
http://news.naver.com/news/rea.....enu_id=105
http://news.naver.com/news/rea.....enu_id=103
Pyotr: I too stand corrected. More than you could ever possibly want to know about the plural of “virus”.
The paper they published on the topic must first go through peer review, further experimentation, human trials, etc. It’s promissing research, that’s all. Don’t start smoking just yet.
http://www.viewsnnews.com/arti.....p;seq=7576
- Yesterday’s interview with Dr. Yun …
Whoah Sewing, that was indeed more than I wanted to know about viruses…
“윤채옥 교수는 86년 서강대를 졸업한 뒤 미국 일리노이 공대에서 박사학위를 받은 뒤 하버드대학 포스닥 및 연구원을 거쳐 2000년부터 연세대 교수
Yun graduated from Suhgang university and got her phD from Univ. of Illinoise. She also did post doctorial study at Havard.”
She seems to be a real McCoy. She is a “certified” scientist from the USA, not like Hwang asshole. And, she talks like a real scientist, using moderate tones on her discovery and stressing further study. I wish Korean government send more money to her direction.
Using a genetically altered virus to cure cancer seems to be a good way to go. This holds more promise than “cloning” lies. Korea should spend more resources in this endeavor while cutting off funding for cloning research. This “genetically altered virus cure” may bring more money to Korea than Samsung.
Good grief. This is science, guys. It’s not affected by these petty, stupid Korea-bashing arguments, so Korea bashers might as well shut it and those busily defending Dr. Yun, don’t bother… the quality of her team’s work will determine what is to come.
Thank goodness scientific method is more effective than blogging. If it’s real, and works, then the findings will be repeated and we’ll be safe from cancer. If it’s crap, it’s crap, and science will discard it… but without the ignominy that Hwang earned for himself, unless of course results have been faked. Most likely, it’ll add up to a couple of drops in the bucket supporting someone else, which will support someone else… because labs all over the world are doing this kind of research right now, and it’s so complicated that this is the way science is done now… tiny steps forward in understanding, with the odd team lucking out with something big. The Korean press may not have caught up with this fact, the Korean newspaper-buying public may still want its Einstein, but science is much less like that now. Still, it’s stupid to dismiss all Korean scientists because Hwang got away with faking for so long.
(It’s less stupid to criticize the University that employed such a faker, or the public that took him up as a hero without the vaguest understanding of his claims, or how ridiculously he behaved. It’s totally fine to criticize Hwang. But to tar all Korean scientists by his brush is just moronic. If we did that, there’d be no country left whose scientists we could respect and trust.)
As for the claims being made: listen to Cat. Cat knows more about this than anyone else who’s posted. (And probably much more than me.)
Sewing: Yes, you recall correctly about something weird with telomeres and cancer. Cancer cells are “immortal” which means they don’t have the same kind of reproductive restrictions as normal somatic cells have, which is limited by telomeres. This has actually led to speculation that the only other common kinds of cells in the body that we know about which are technically “immortal” in this way — stem cells — may be the root from which cancers spring. At least, that’s what I was reading this summer, when I was reading up on the Hayflick limit.
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