New mechanism could help cancer treatment

SCIENTISTS have discovered a new mechanism for repairing damaged DNA that could have major implications for cancer treatment, it emerged yesterday.

Researchers have found that a molecule called AlkB, which is key to repairing genetic damage, works in a unique way.

The study, in the journal Nature, found that AlkB uses a chemical process called oxidative demethylation to repair DNA, relying on the presence of iron and several other chemicals.