Thursday, March 21, 2019

MOLECULAR GARBAGE BAGS


Yes, we have had rotten winters before

Here is a new word for you: exosome.  Exosomes are tiny molecular trash bags expelled by cells to get rid of waste products, and possibly for other purposes as well.  According to Dr. Collins, NIH Director (in his blog), investigators at U. Kansas have developed a “nanochip” (nano means one millionth of a meter) that can detect exosomes expelled by ovarian cancer cells in their frantic race to reproduce.  It seems to work; it properly detected OVCA in women known to have it, and cleared women known to be free of the disease.  Left unsaid is how early in OVCA development it works.  If stage 1 or even 2, it may be a significant breakthrough.

By the way: you can do far worse with your spare time than to follow Dr. Collins’ blog; not only does he write about interesting and important things, he writes about them well.


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