CRISPR Quashes Cancer in Mice

Gene editing can knock out genes crucial to cervical tumor cells’ survival, researchers report.

Written byRachael Moeller Gorman

| 3 min read

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The paper
L. Jubair et al., “Systemic delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 targeting HPV oncogenes is effective at eliminating established tumors,” Mol Ther, 27:2091–99, 2019.

When the human papillomavirus enters a cervix, it doesn’t lyse cells or cause inflammation. While some strains can cause genital warts, in most cases the body clears the virus without much fuss. But “in an unfortunate number of people, the virus gets stuck,” says Nigel McMillan, a cancer researcher at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. Even 15 or 20 years after infection with certain human pap-illomavirus (HPV) strains, cervical and other cancers can develop as a result.

Looking for a new way to treat these cancers, McMillan focused on two oncogenes, E6 and E7, that HPV delivers to host cells. If E6 and E7 are turned off, cancer cells will not survive—a phenomenon known as oncogene addiction. In the early 2000s, McMillan and ...

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Meet the Author

Rachael Moeller Gorman
After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology and neuroscience from Williams College, Rachael spent two years studying the tiny C. elegans worm as a lab tech at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University. She then returned to school to get a master’s degree in environmental studies from Brown University, and subsequently worked as an intern at Scientific American, Discover magazine, and the Annals of Improbable Research, the originators of the yearly Ig Nobel prizes. She now freelances for both scientific and lay publications, and loves telling the stories behind the science. Find her at rachaelgorman.com or on Instagram @rachaelmoellergorman.
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