A TOXIC fungus linked to the deaths of researchers who opened King Tutankhamun’s tomb may help fight cancer.
The poisonous fungus found growing inside the ancient tombs is believed to have struck down a team of 10 archaeologists in a theory known as “Pharaoh’s Curse”.
3
3
3
The fungus crop – known as Aspergillus flavus – is believed to have been ingested by the researchers who then developed lung infections and died.
But now, in a miraculous turn of events, scientists think the toxic fungus could contain elements needed to attack blood cancer.
The fungus contains a “promising” protein that, when purified, could help battle leukaemia cells, they said.
According to their research, when combined with human cells, the protein is potent enough to disrupt the division of cancer cells.
Cancer is when abnormal cells divide in an uncontrolled way.
It starts when gene changes make one cell or a few cells begin to grow and multiply too much.
Sherry Gao, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, enthused that this could be the start of “many more medicines derived from natural products”.
She told The Times: “Fungi gave us penicillin. These results show that many more medicines derived from natural products remain to be found”.
She added: “Nature has given us this incredible pharmacy. It’s up to us to uncover its secrets.
“As engineers, we’re excited to keep exploring, learning from nature and using that knowledge to design better solutions.”
This comes as researchers at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic, both in the US, developed a new type of jab to fight pancreatic cancer.
The vaccine uses tiny particles called nanoparticles to train the body’s immune system to find and kill ‘bad’ cancer cells.
In early tests with animals and lab models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common and aggressive type of pancreatic cancer, more than half of the treated patients were completely cancer-free months after getting the vaccine.
The vaccine also encourages the body to create its own T cells, immune fighters specially trained to attack cancer, while building up ‘immune memory’ for longer-term protection.
Meanwhile, researchers in South Korea said they were able to revert cancerous cells back to a healthier stage.
The team believe they can prevent the progression by exploiting the moment before normal cells irreversibly transform into diseased cells.
Current cancer treatments focus on removing or destroying cancer cells through surgery, radiation or chemotherapy.
But the groundbreaking discovery could let cancer patients regain their healthy cells.
The scientists published their findings in the journal Advanced Science.
Co-author of the new research Kwang-Hyun Cho is a professor of biology at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
He said: “This study has revealed in detail, at the genetic network level, what changes occur within cells behind the process of cancer development, which has been considered a mystery until now.
