Il virus dell’influenza, modificato geneticamente, diventa un killer del cancro del pancreas. La scoperta è stata fatta da Stella Man della Queen Mary University of London.
Quello del pancreas è un tumore difficilmente curabile (è lo stesso che ha portato al decesso del fondatore di Apple Steve Jobs) perché la sua diagnosi è nella maggior parte dei casi tardiva, la massa di cellule malate cresce in fretta ed è spesso resistente alle terapie.
Come funziona?
Il virus influenzale viene armato con una molecola che riconosce e si lega saldamente a un’altra, presente unicamente sulla superficie delle cellule malate. Una volta scovato il "nemico", il virus lo attacca, distruggendolo. Essendo selettivo, lascia intatte quelle sane, evitando così di provocare effetti collaterali.
ats/mrj
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