As a student in the Eberly College of Science here at Penn State, learning about new discoveries across the sciences and the impact they have on the betterment of our lives is of great interest to me. In my short time here, I have developed a passion for the sciences, especially in the fields of biology and chemistry. This semester, I am starting work in an infectious disease research lab, and my ultimate goal is that sometime in the future I will have the opportunity to make my own contributions to the science community. Being the beginning of a new year, it is an optimal time to look back on the past year and acknowledge many of the scientific breakthroughs that have been uncovered and the role that they have played in the advancement of humanity. In my subsequent blogs, I will be describing in detail what were some of the greatest findings in the scientific community in 2015, starting with the engineering of the polio virus to treat life threatening brain tumors.
There was a time when individuals who were diagnosed with brain tumors were given less than a year to live, with an almost certain death looming. The reason for this was that there were no known treatments for these malignant tumors, and therefore nothing could be done about them. However, thanks to the recent findings of Dr. Matthias Gromeier, this is soon to not be the case anymore. What Dr. Gromeier found was that by deleting one part of the genetic sequence of the polio virus, what remains is what he named PVS-RIPO, which is able to leech on to all tumor cells in the system and eliminate them. What’s even more amazing about this discovery is that the PVS-RIPO does this without harming any normal cells, which is an early sign of very few if any side effects linked to this proposed procedure. In addition to this, there has already been proof that the engineered polio virus has been effective on test patients. The figure below shows the PVS-RIPO treatment at work. It is visible just how effective this treatment is when the image on the left is compared with the right. This new treatment could be used in mainstream practice as soon as this year, and presents a major step forward in the field of medicine.
http://www.medicaldaily.com/7-biggest-medical-breakthroughs-2015-364636#big-shots/364636/0
http://www.cancer.duke.edu/btc/modules/research3/index.php?id=41 (photo source)
That is a great idea for a blog, and will be very informative, especially for those of us (like me) who sadly do not keep up-to-date on scientific news as they should. This was a fascinating first post, and the images really help support your point.
This is an interesting and eyeopening post. I know that my community at home has suffered several losses from brain cancer and tumors, including a girl who was in my grade. I hope this research continues and that it gets the hype it deserves.
I’ve always found it fascinating how doctors can use viruses to combat other diseases. It’s like the ultimate ‘fight fire with fire’
Fascinating idea that could work wonders for the treatment of brain tumors. Medical research on cancer has started to progress towards using benign viruses to target tumors, but the genetic engineering behind these methods is still in a somewhat rudimentary form. Essentially, it’s a vaccine for the tumor… I imagine ignorant people will freak out about this once it becomes a public treatment option.
This is a really cool idea for a blog, and quite a groundbreaking discovery in the medical field. It’s amazing that something like polio that used to cause so much trauma may now be able to cure brain tumors.