325: beetle provides cancer research clue

A major breakthrough in basic science, which could accelerate cancer research, was announced today - all thanks to a team of scientists from Philadelphia ... and the red flour beetle. As today's linked article from philly.com reports, scientists had been trying to decipher the protein telomerase for many years, since its role in helping cancer cells multiply was first identified around two decades ago. But they'd had little luck. The human form of the protein was too unstable. As a result, the Philadelphia scientists searched through data on other species - and eventually found the red flour beetle, which produces a less complex form of the protein that could be studied, and this enabled its structure to be mapped. This is the first step of many that will be required to develop new cancer drugs, but it's a vital step. Researchers will now know more about this important protein, and that's key if they're to work out how to deactivate it.