HOUSTON: In a breakthrough, a team of Harvard scientists led by an Indian-American researcher has discovered a novel way to fight deadly brain cancer with toxin-resistant stem cells. Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital led by Dr Khalid Shah, who hails from Kashmir, experimented on mice and used genetically engineered stem cells that released cancer-killing toxins while leaving healthy cells unaffected. The modified cells, most importantly, were able to release the tumour killing poison without succumbing to its effects.
"A few years ago, we recognised that stem cells could be used to continuously deliver these therapeutic toxins to tumours in the brain, but first we needed to genetically engineer stem cells that could resist being killed themselves by the toxins," Shah an HSCI principal faculty member said. "Now, we have toxin-resistant…
