Artist’s impression of a bacterial cell. Photo credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/James Archer
Since its inception, chemotherapy has proven to be a valuable tool in the treatment of many types of cancer, but it has one significant drawback. In addition to killing cancerous cells, it can also destroy healthy cells like those in the hair follicles, which causes balding, and those lining the stomach, causing nausea.
Now scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) may have a better solution: genetically engineered, sound-controlled bacteria that seek out and destroy cancer cells. In a new article published in the magazine