A Good Virus
EUREKA!
Plant virus activates immune system to destroy tumors.
NEW FINDINGS AND RESEARCH H
Cowpea mosaic virus, a plant virus that causes blistering and mosaiclike patterns on leaves, has become a biotech star. Researchers, including Dartmouth microbiology and immunology prof Steven Fiering, have determined how the virus might fight cancer. While the virus is noninfectious in mammals, it activates pathogen recognition receptors and primes antitumor immunity. Injected into a tumor, nanoparticles of the virus trigger the immune system to kill the cancer, even metastatic cancer, and to launch a systemic immune response to any future recurrence. The study appeared in Molecular Pharmaceutics.
