Cancer · 3articles

Rapid diagnosis of cancer can save lives. Now, engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new nanoparticle sensor that can detect cancer and other diseases with a simple urine test. Barcoded DNA administered to patients using nanoparticles is cleaved and excreted in urine where it is analysed.

Scientists developed a new CRISPR-based system called KaryoCreate to study chromosome aneuploidy. Using guide RNAs, they could recruit mutant kinetochore proteins to chromosomes in cultured cells. This mutant protein results in improper segregation of chromosomes leading to aneuploidy. Researchers can use this as an experimental model to study aneuploidy in the context of cancer and beyond.

Biologists identified the mechanistic link between EBV and cancer. They discovered that the protein EBNA1 encoded by EBV binds to specific sequences on chromosome 11 of humans. This binding triggers chromosome breakage and genome instability. Genome instability is a known driver of cancer development.