It turns out that sometimes, fungi are extremely useful. First we had Penicillin; now we have Lodamin, which is a promising new cancer drug stemming from an accidentally discovered fungus and some nanotechnological manipulation.Reuters reports:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A drug developed using nanotechnology and a fungus that contaminated a lab experiment may be broadly effective against a range of cancers, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.
The drug, called lodamin, was improved in one of the last experiments overseen by Dr. Judah Folkman, a cancer researcher who died in January. Folkman pioneered the idea of angiogenesis therapy — starving tumors by preventing them from growing blood supplies.
Lodamin is an angiogenesis inhibitor that Folkman’s team has been working to perfect for 20 years. Writing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, his colleagues say they developed a formulation that works as a pill, without side-effects.
How cool would it be if one of the most promising new cancer treatments in years came about as a result of a fungal mishap?
It turns out that sometimes, fungi are extremely useful. First we had Penicillin; now we have Lodamin, which is a promising new cancer drug stemming from an accidentally discovered fungus and some nanotechnological manipulation.Reuters reports:
How cool would it be if one of the most promising new cancer treatments in years came about as a result of a fungal mishap?