Bushwillow: tree of enlightenmentAS A cell prepares to divide, tiny parts of its internal skeleton, known as microtubules, arrange themselves into a spindle that permits its complement of chromosomes to split into two bundles. These bundles will go on to become the nuclei of the daughter cells, so spindle formation is a crucial part of the process of replication. Because out-of-control cell replication is the underlying cause of cancer, developing drugs that interfere with microtubule activity has long been of great interest.
Unfortunately, most drugs developed for the task sabotage the tubules of both cancerous and healthy cells. This causes horrible side effects and means that doctors must use lower doses than would be ideal if killing the cancer were their sole objective. However Oliver Thorn-Seshold and Dirk Trauner, two chemists at Ludwig Maximillian University, in Munich, hope to change this state of affairs. They are trying to develop a tubule-controlling drug that can be switched on and off using light.
The idea of optically controlled chemotherapy is not novel. Several teams have tried enclosing...
from The Economist: Science and technology http://ift.tt/1CrBVZt
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