A researcher at the University of Oxford has found a piece of RNA that can act as a switch on cancer tumors, effectively turning them off. The "scrap" molecule inhibits a gene responsible for creating a protein needed in a chemical used in the division of tumor cells. According to Dr Alexandre Akoulitchev, inhibiting the DHFR gene could stop the growth of neoplastic cancerous cells which develop into tumor cells. That work in turn has helped shed new light on the "junk" DNA present which may in fact have vital roles to play in our health.
- read the report on their work
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