BARC, Cancer - GS questions based on daily current affairs

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• The radioactive decay of strontium-90 generates a significant amount of heat. It is used as a heat source in many Russian/Soviet radioisotope thermoelectric generators, usually in the form of strontium titanate.
• Sr-90 finds use in industry as a radioactive source for thickness gauges.
• Sr-90 finds extensive use in medicine as a radioactive source for superficial radiotherapy of some cancers. Controlled amounts of Sr-90 and Sr-89 can be used in treatment of bone cancer.
• It is also used as a radioactive tracer in medicine and agriculture.

ANSWER: G Protein

Explanation:
A team of researchers has come up with an artificial protein that may block malignant properties of cancer cells as well as correct certain birth defects.

The findings may lead to identifying new molecular targets suitable for therapeutic intervention.

Cells in the human body need to communicate with each other to function properly. This is accomplished by a molecular mechanism called signal transduction and its dysregulation leads to human disease.

A group of molecules called G proteins act as a signalling mechanism that enables cells to change their behaviour when they are activated by surface receptors.

According to the researchers, the G proteins can be activated via alternative mechanisms independent of surface receptors that also impact normal cell behaviour and pathogenesis.

Scientists have engineered an artificial protein that when expressed in cells can specifically blunt receptor-independent G protein activation and subsequent changes in cell behaviour.

They have implemented this to block malignant properties of cancer cells and to correct birth defects associated with the aberrant dysregulation of cellular communication.

The clinical implications for this discovery are indirect - since the engineered protein cannot be delivered to patients - it does represent a significant advance in the identification of a new class of molecular targets in cancer or neonatal malformations.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Two US scientists whose work has contributed to creating immunological treatments for cancer are among the winners of this year’s Balzan Prizes, recognising scholarly and scientific achievements.

Another winner is economist Bina Agarwal, a professor at the University of Manchester, who was recognised in the gender studies category for her “heroic” work studying women’s contributions to agriculture in India.

James Allison of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Robert Schreiber of the Washington University School of Medicine were cited for their work on antibody treatments that has increased the survival of patients with metastatic melanoma.

The Balzan Foundation awards two prizes in the sciences and two in the humanities each year, rotating specialities to highlight new or emerging areas of research and sustain fields that might be overlooked elsewhere.

Recipients receive 750,000 Swiss francs (₹5 crore), half of which must be used for research, preferably by young scholars or scientists.

Nobel Prize-winner Jules Hoffman, a presenter of the awards, said the work focusing on using the immune system to fight cancer, expanding from the traditional treatments of removal, radiation and chemotherapy, has already had success in 25 to 30% of melanoma patients.

ANSWER: CRISPR-Cas9

Explanation:
Researchers in the United States have reportedly identified a new way to slow down the growth of cancer cell, according to reports released on 28 May 2017.

The research, conducted by researchers belonging to the University of Rochester in the US, has been published in the latest issue of the journal, Science.

The new method involves a protein called Tudor-SN and the gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9.

Researchers after a comprehensive study discovered how Tudor-SN is significant in the preparatory phase of the cell cycle, the period when the cell gets ready to divide.

Tudor-SN is more abundant in cancer cells than in the healthy ones and so, targeting the protein could help slow down the fast-growing cancer cells.

The findings were made in kidney and cervical cancer cells in the laboratory and though they are still a long way from being applied on people, they could help cancer patients in the future.

ANSWER: Neurocalyx calycinus

Explanation:
A medicinal plant endemic to the southern parts of Western Ghats and Sri Lanka could offer scientists the key to new herbal formulations.

It could also pave the way for modern drugs for the treatment of cancer and wounds and burns.

Scientists at the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) here have confirmed the multiple therapeutic properties of Neurocalyx calycinus.

This herb used by the Cholanaickan tribe, one of the particularly vulnerable groups in Kerala, to treat inflammations and wounds.

The researchers have filed for a patent on a novel herbal drug formulation possessing wound-healing, burn-healing, anti-cancer, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, immuno- enhancing, platelet-augmentation and anti-oxidant effects.

The scientists came to know of the miracle plant in 1988 during a biological survey deep inside the Nilambur forests.

Neurocalyx calycinus is known as pacha chedi in local language.

Animal trials have proved that the leaves of N.calycinus possess wound-healing properties comparable to the standard drug Povidone/ Iodine in the early phase of inflammation.

The anti-inflammatory activity of the leaves was found comparable to the drug diclofenac sodium.

The pre-clinical trials confirmed the therapeutic effects of N.calycinus against burn wounds and pain, besides its immuno-enhancing, platelet augmentation, and anti-oxidant potential.

The presence of high Vitamin E content and potent cytoprotective activity in cell lines in the plant species have also enhanced the prospects of developing an anti-cancer drug.

In a presentation that won the best paper award at the Kerala Science Congress, Aneesh kumar AL, a researcher, said the work had thrown up promising leads for the development of novel herbal formulations and modern medicines.

Pada Chedi: Know More

• Neurocalyx calycinus is a shrub endemic to South West India.
• It is found in evergreen forests.
• Recent researches suggests this plant has wound-healing, burn-healing, anti-cancer, analgesic, anti-inflammatory.
• Genus: Neurocalyx
• Order: Gentianales
• Rank: Species

ANSWER: Anti-cancer properties

Explanation:

• The Indian long pepper, widely popular for spicing up food, may soon be used as a potential cancer treatment drug, according to a new study.
• The Indian long pepper contains a chemical that could stop your body from producing an enzyme that is commonly found in tumours in large numbers.
• UT Southwestern Medical Enter scientists have uncovered the chemical process behind anti-cancer properties of a spicy Indian pepper plant called the long pepper, whose suspected medicinal properties date back thousands of years.
• The secret lies in a chemical called Piperlongumine (PL), which has shown activity against many cancers including prostate, breast, lung, colon, lymphoma, leukaemia, primary brain tumours and gastric cancer.
• PL converts to hPL, an active drug that silences a gene called GSTP1.
• The GSTP1 gene produces a detoxification enzyme that is often overly abundant in tumours.

ANSWER: Cancer treatment

Explanation:
Low cost radiotherapy equipment like Bhabhatron, IMAGIN, developed indigenously has been donated by Government of India to various countries like Kenya, Mongolia, etc.

Imagin simulator is used for localization of treatment areas and for verification of treatment plans prior to starting treatment.

Therapy Simulator helps in localizing the radiation port onto target tumor location and give a quality assured radiotherapy for better treatment outcome.

IMAGIN has advanced CBCT Imaging capability for accurate image acquisition and reconstruction in one gantry rotation.

ANSWER: Ribosome

Explanation:
Scientists have identified a defect in the ribosome, the protein factory of the cell in 20-40 per cent of the patients with multiple myeloma which is a type of leukaemia.

These patients have a poorer prognosis than patients with intact ribosomes, the scientists said.

In MM patients, one part of the ribosome is produced less in 20 to 40 per cent of the patients, depending on how aggressive the cancer is.

Cells are still producing protein, but that the balance is somewhat disrupted.

One possible treatment for MM is the use of proteasome inhibitors which is the protein demolition machine in a cell. How the defects in the ribosome influence the proteasome is not quite clear yet.

Tests can now be developed to identify defects in the ribosome and thus determine which therapy will have most effect in a specific patient.

Finding that cancer is related to ribosome defects is a relatively new concept in science.

What is Multiple Myeloma?

• MM is also called Kahler’s disease.
• It is a type of Blood cancer in which bone marrow cells start increasing rapidly. It is common among older people.

ANSWER: Anti-cancer compound

Explanation:

• IISc Bangalore concluded study on quercetin recently and found it to be extremely useful for cancer patients.
• Quercetin, known to cause anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activity, reportedly induces ‘apoptosis,’ a process by which cells commit suicide in a controlled manner.
• The compound may also prevent multiplication of cancerous cells by blocking the process of cell division.
• It can even kill the highly aggressive leukaemia cell line K562, which is resistant to most anti-cancer drugs.
• It is an originally purified compound, which is now also commercially purified and sold.
• It was found to have no adverse effects on the non-cancerous cells even while killing the cancerous ones, including in the experimental animals.

ANSWER: Deep Brain Stimulator

Explanation:
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram have signed an MoU to develop Deep Brain Stimulator/DBS.

• DBS is currently being imported limiting its wider usage to high cost.
• Planned joint development is targeted to provide an alternative that is affordable.
• DBS involves implanting electrodes within certain brain areas and regular electrical pulses generated by pacemaker like device placed under the skin in upper chest regulates abnormal impulses of the brain.
• It is used in neurological conditions of essential tremor, dystonia and Parkinson’s Disease.
• DBS comprises implanted pulse generator, electrodes and extension cable which interface with external programmer modules and wireless battery chargers.
• As per the MoU, BARC will develop the device as per specifications provided by SCTIMST and the latter will manage clinical trials, testing and qualifications.
• Electronics Division Reactor Control Division and Centre for Design & Manufacture of the BARC will participate in developing various subsystems.