Using HIV + Malaria... to Fight Cancer?

Using HIV + Malaria... to Fight Cancer? - Whose Gene #13

2020-07-03

[public] 20.4K views, 895 likes, 16.0 dislikes audio only

This one will be a bit wild. One malarial protein called var2csa has the weird ability to home to many different types of cancer and is being studied extensively to develop new tests are treatments. Today we'll be attempting to isolate the correct gene, then design a fusion protein that turns it into a sort of synthetic antibody. From there we'll take the newly designed protein and build it into a lentiviral plasmid for delivery. Lentivirus is the proper name for the HIV family of viruses which have been gutted to make them safe and useful for gene therapy. The idea is that if used on a patient it would attract the immune system to a tumor, effectively killing it without the need for chemotherapy. This is purely theoretical of course, but it's an interesting idea that I think is worth exploring.

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