Gene makes breast cancer cells self-destruct, research shows

SCIENTISTS at Queen’s University Belfast have shown that they can deliver a gene directly into breast cancer cells causing them to self-destruct, using an innovative, miniscule gene transport system.

Using a transport system called a Designer Biomimetic Vector (DBV), Dr Helen McCarthy packaged a gene into a nanoparticle 400 times smaller than the width of a human hair, allowing it to be delivered straight into breast cancer cells in the laboratory. The research is published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics and could be trialled in patients within five years.