L’uso dell’immunoterapia per curare il cancro è l’innovazione scientifica più importante del 2013, secondo Science. La rivista statunitense, che ha pubblicato venerdì la classifica delle scoperte più significative dell’anno, ha riconosciuto che questo tipo di terapia ha rivoluzionato l’approccio alla cura dei tumori.
“L’immunoterapia del cancro è in fase di sviluppo da decenni, ma ha finalmente rivelato il suo potenziale”, spiegano i responsabili editoriali di Science, “non ci sono più dubbi sull’immensa promessa che essa rappresenta”.
La terapia agisce sul sistema immunitario e in particolare sui linfociti T affinché attacchino il tumore. Molti studi hanno dimostrato che questo approccio si è rivelato molto più efficace di altri per contrastare dei cancri aggressivi, come il melanoma.
Tim Appenzeller, redattore capo della prestigiosa rivista, invita però a non lasciarsi prendere dall’entusiasmo perché il numero di pazienti trattati finora in questo modo è ancora esiguo.
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2013, anno di svolte
Oltre all'immunoterapia per il cancro Science ha indicato quali sono state le altre importanti svolte scientifiche del 2013: -La tecnica di modificazione genetica chiamata CRISPR -Le cellule fotovoltaiche in perovskite -L’uso della biologia strutturale per la prima volta in un vaccino -La tecnica CLARITY, che permette un’innovativa visualizzazione dei neuroni -La coltivazione in vitro di mini-organi umani che sostituirebbero quelli animali nella ricerca -L’identificazione della sorgente dei raggi cosmici nei detriti di supernova -La dimostrazione che il sonno è essenziale per il cervello affinché si “pulisca” aumentando lo spazio fra i neuroni -I lavori su migliaia di miliardi di batteri che vivono nel nostro corpo e ne hanno mostrato l’importanza, anche per la cura di eventuali malattie
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