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posted by martyb on Sunday May 10 2015, @08:39AM   Printer-friendly
from the protein-powah dept.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have made discoveries that may lead to better cancer treatment (including improved chemotherapy).

A method to help shorten the road to better cancer treatment has been developed by an international team of researchers. When DNA is damaged, several different proteins start pouring in to repair the damage; their types depend on the damage done. Up until now, it has been common practice to study one protein at a time, but by way of so-called mass spectrometry, researchers are now able to simultaneously see all the proteins that help repair damaged DNA.

[...]The article in Science describes chemotherapy-induced DNA damage, because the researchers wanted to relate their findings to the treatment of cancer. By using this method, Niels Mailand and his research team have discovered that two specific and hitherto un-described proteins play an important part in repairing damaged DNA.

“This new method enables us to quickly get an overview of the entire bag of proteins that are important in terms of repairing damaged DNA. In this process, we have discovered that the two proteins have a specific part to play and attract certain necessary elements to a given spot where DNA-repairs are taking place. In other words, this new technique allows us to put the puzzle together much quicker...”

Abstract of source article (which is paywalled) is here.

 
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday May 10 2015, @10:22AM

    "two specific and hitherto un-described proteins".

    While we regard software as difficult, quite commonly we can make it easier by dividing a large problem into to smaller, hopefully simpler problems.

    That is of limited use with medicine.

    When I was but a lad my parents gave me a chemistry set. My older sister urged me to see what would happen if I mixed all of my chemicals together. I didn't want to, I figured that was a bad idea.

    But the human body - most life, actually - is rather like that: a bunch of chemicals mixed together.

    A further problem is that different people consist of different combinations of chemicals. It is quite common for a drug to be effective and safe for one person, but ineffective or even harmful to another. Norpramine for example is a commonly used antidepressant, but it has a rare side effect of causing anxiety. I've only had one tablet in my entire life; I spent the rest of the day curled up in a cowering little ball while a close friend struggled without much success to reassure me that I had nothing to worry about.

    Penicillin was first discovered when some astute medical researcher happened to notice that the bacteria colonies never came into contact with any of the fungus colonies on a rotten citrus fruit. By growing the fungus in their lab, they were able to demonstrate that the fungus produced a toxin that killed many bacteria, as well as to come up with enough of the toxin to test it for safety with just one human subject, a young man who they knew would soon perish of pneumonia.

    While the pneumonia got him in the end, he was not harmed by the penicillin.

    Now consider that it is common to be violently allergic to penicillin - it can kill you. Suppose that one young man had been allergic? Perhaps they would have abandoned the research.

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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2015, @05:12PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10 2015, @05:12PM (#181117)

    ... My older sister...

    At last, we find out why you turned out so twisted[grin]!