This calendar week , a team of investigator at Dartmouth announced an exciting , if abysmally disgusting , medical find . A single - celled parasite usually found in cat ’ intestines — and later in their turd — show unequalled promise as a cancer treatment . The researchers even think the parasitecould enable them to make individualized cancer vaccines .
The parasite , fuck as Toxoplasma gondii , is in reality pretty dangerous to humans . However , the resistant system attacks T. gondii cells the same way it should go after a tumor . Dartmouth prof David J. Bzik , who led the enquiry , said that the sponge can “ stimulate the exact immune responses you want to fight cancer . ” The magic is getting the body to produce the natural cytotoxic triiodothyronine cells before a tumour maturate , so that they can assail said neoplasm when it ’s time .
so as to avoid the dangerous effects of the sponger , the research team created “ cps , ” an immunotherapeutic vaccine . The vaccine is supposed to stimulate the immune system to attack malignant neoplastic disease vigilantly , and early consequence show that it sour . According toa press handout about a newly published subject area , they “ tested the cps vaccine in extremely strong-growing deadly mouse models of melanoma or ovarian cancer and found unprecedented mellow rate of cancer survival . ”
Now , the scientists just have to figure out if it works in humans . Or , more importantly , they have to envision out how . As with any experimental treatment ( much less one that involves parasite from poop ! ) , it will take time to go from a promising effect to a test intervention . Still , it ’s fascinating to think that the key to a potentially promising unexampled vaccine exists right under our noses . [ Discovery ]
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