Virus Tamed To Attack Cancer, Cancer Drugs To Treat Alcoholism

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday May 25, @02:04PM

from the and-alcohol-to-treat-the-common-cold dept.

ScienceDaily is reporting that scientists at Oxford University seem to have adapted a virus so that it attacks cancer cells but does not hurt healthy cells."Adenovirus is a DNA virus widely used in cancer therapy but which causes hepatic disease in mice. Professor Len Seymour and colleagues found that introducing sites into the virus genome that are recognized by microRNA 122 leads to hepatic degradation of important viral mRNA, thereby diminishing the virus' ability to adversely affect the liver, while maintaining its ability to replicate in and kill tumor cells."Relatedly, cancer drugs already approved for use may be cross-functional as a treatment for alcohol addiction."Now, the researchers show that flies and mice treated with erlotinib also grow more sensitive to alcohol. What's more, rats given the cancer-fighting drug spontaneously consumed less alcohol when it was freely available to them. Their taste for another rewarding beverage -- sugar water -- was unaffected."