Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in Israel, have discovered a new way to halt the growth and spread of cancer cells during work to find a way to to boost the size of peaches and nectarines.
Scientists claim to have found that a protein similar to one they were researching in their project had the effect of blocking blood supply to tumours.
"By blocking the blood supply to the tumours, actibind halted the ability of malignant cells to move through the blood stream," said a spokesprson.
"Their approach has been shown to inhibit the malignant cells without affecting normal cells and without the severe side effects of traditional treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy.”
Oded Shoseyov, who led the research, told Reuters his team had succeeded in using the protein to reduce the number of fruits on a tree, thereby increasing the size of each fruit. The technique worked by inhibiting the growth of pollen cells.
"We hypothesized that since the mechanism of growth is very similar -- between the pollen cell and the cancer cell -- that the protein would have the same effect," he said.
The genetically engineered variant of the protein "showed an impressive anti-cancer potential," said the spokesperson. "These results have raised broad interest in international scientific meetings and in business circles.”
