​癌細胞內發現自殺開關 癌症治療或開啓新時代大綱

Every cell in the human body contains a "kill code" which can be triggered to cause its own self-destruction.

人體的每個細胞中都包含一個“致死代碼”，觸發這一代碼會使細胞自我毀滅。

That's the discovery made by researchers at Northwestern University, Illinois, who believe it could be utilized for the future fight against Cancer.

這是伊利諾伊州西北大學的研究人員的發現，他們相信這一發現未來可以用於抗擊癌症。

Specifically, they predict malignant cells could be encouraged to "commit suicide" without toxic chemicals pumped into the body.

具體而言，他們預測，惡性細胞將可以被誘惑“自殺”，而不必再將有毒化學藥物注入患者體內。

It could mean an end to grueling rounds of chemotherapy.

這可能意味着給患者帶來巨大痛苦的一輪輪化療的終結。

Currently, as soon as the cell's inner bodyguards sense it is mutating into cancer, it self-activates the kill code to extinguish itself.

一旦細胞的內部保鏢意識到它正在變異成癌症，它就會自動激活致死代碼來消滅自己。

Embedded in ribonucleic acids, scientists estimate these evolved more than 800 million years ago in part to protect the body from diseases.

科學家們估計，這些嵌入核糖核酸的物質是在8億年前進化而來的，部分是爲了保護人體免受疾病的侵害。

'Now that we know the kill code, we can trigger the mechanism without having to use chemotherapy and without messing with the genome,' said lead author Marcus E. Peter, the Tomas D. Spies Professor of Cancer Metabolism at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

西北大學費恩伯格醫學院Thomas s遺傳代謝教授馬庫斯·E·彼得表示：“既然我們已經知道了致死代碼，我們就可以觸發這種機制，而不必使用化療，也不用擾亂基因組。”

'We can use these small RNAs directly, introduce them into cells and trigger the kill switch.'

“我們可以直接使用這些小RNAs，將它們引入細胞並觸發殺死開關。”

'My goal was not to come up with a new artificial toxic substance,' he added. 'I wanted to follow nature's lead. I want to utilize a mechanism that nature designed.'

他補充道：“我的目標不是想出一種新的人造有毒物質。我想跟隨大自然的腳步。我想利用自然發展起來的機制。”