Monday, August 24, 2009

Cell Reproduction Research May Point To 'Off Switch' For Cancer

Researcher Art Alberts, left, with doctoral candidate Aaron DeWard at the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids. (Credit: VAI photo by Dykehouse Photography)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Aug. 24, 2009) — New insight into how human cells reproduce, published by cancer researchers at Michigan State University and the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids, could help scientists move closer to finding an “off switch” for cancer.

Cancer cells divide uncontrollably and can move from one part of the body to another. They undergo dramatic shifts in shape when they do so, said Aaron DeWard, an MSU cell and molecular biology doctoral candidate who published his research recently in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. He’s trying to figure out how certain proteins trigger cell movement and division and how cancer hijacks the system to create genomic instability.

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