Originally published December 7 2005
Queens researchers identify genes affected by dangerous cancer drug
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Researchers at Queen's University have observed the impact of Methotrexate (MTX), a popular cancer-fighting drug now known to cause birth defects, on fruit flies, and from their studies they have identified which genes the drug affects.
Methotrexate (MTX), a popular cancer-fighting drug also used to treat psoriasis, ectopic pregnancies, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus, lasts a long time in the body and causes birth defects in children from women who have it in their systems.
The study of the drug's effect on fruit flies has allowed Queen's researchers including graduate student Joslynn Affleck to identify the genes on which the drug acts.
"We hope that through this model system we can provide insight into mammalian birth defects, which may be expected to increase in frequency in the future, due to the recent elevated use of MTX," says Affleck.
"This is not a journal in the habit of publishing insect studies," notes biologist Dr. Virginia Walker, who co-authored the study.
"The neat thing about this work is that fruit flies treated with this drug show 'birth defects' that are hauntingly similar to birth defects in human babies.
Babies have bent limbs, tufts of hair and bulging eyes and the fruit flies have bent legs (and wings), tufts of bristles and rough eyes."
While identifying this gene array is significant in its own right, the successful use of fruit flies in this kind of study is a revelation to the researchers who view it as an efficient model for the initial testing of "rescue" therapies to try to prevent birth defects.
Scientists can study the effect of the drug on the genes of as many as three generations of fruit flies in a month using readily available scientific tools, speeding up study times while keeping costs low.
"It also adds to the growing list of roles fruit flies can take," says Walker.
Fruit flies are already used as models for aging, neural disease and cancer.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml