Over this past summer I took a trip to the very beautiful
Costa Rica. Before going on this trip my mother decided to freak me out and
tell me that there was a problem with mosquitos carrying the Zika virus in
Costa Rica. I decided to go to the store and buy a ton of mosquito spray in
order to protect me for the nine days that I would be staying there.
There is currently no vaccine for the Zika virus. This virus
is spread via mosquitos and is extremely dangerous for women that are pregnant
or becoming pregnant. The virus can be spread from the mother to the fetus
causing many different birth defects. Symptoms of this virus include fever,
rash, headache, joint pain, red eyes, and muscle pain. Most people don’t even
realize they are infected because the symptoms are so common and usually only
last up to one week.
Recently it has been found that the Zika virus may be used to
treat brain cancer in patients. A study was published on September 5 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine and was
done by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
and the University of California. The brain cancer they focused on was
Glioblastoma, which is the most common form of brain cancer. Most people with
this cancer die within two years of the diagnosis. This cancer is driven by
stem cells that proliferate the brain and give rise to tumor cells. These cells are
resilient due to the fact that they avoid the body’s immune system and are
resistant to both chemotherapy and radiation.
The problem is that even if the tumor is removed, the cells are still there so they cancer will return.
The Zika virus has been found to disrupt fetal brain
development as stated earlier. It targets the neural stem and progenitor cells.
The virus can affect the adult brain, but it is not as severe. Their hypothesis
was that the virus could be used to fight against the glioblastoma stem cells.
They were correct with their hypothesis. The Zika virus killed the
patient-derived glioblastoma stem cells. When the virus was injected into mice
the tumor growth was slowed and the lifespan of the animal was extended.
They ended up testing many different strains of the Zika
virus and they all attacked the cells in some way, either killing them
completely or slowing the tumor growth. This method was even more effective
when it was combined with a chemotherapy drug called temozolomide. It is
incredible to this that this virus might not be the only virus able to fight
cancer. With more research it may be found that different virus’ will fight
different cancers and cure may be found.
It is incredible to think that something I was so scared of
contracting may be a cure to someone with brain cancer. Everything in this
world has a good and bad side and I’m starting to understand that. Science is
truly amazing.
I knew about Zika virus because there was such a huge panic over it, but I never knew about it’s ability to cure brain cancer. That’s so interesting! My post was also about a possible cure for cancer, so it’s nice hearing that researchers are taking different approaches to find a cure. Great post!
ReplyDeleteBefore reading your post I knew almost nothing about the zika virus or how it was being used in the field of oncology. I think its funny how something you were terrified of can actually save live. Great post, extremely interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis was very informative! I think it is very interesting how something harmful could potentially help cancer in the particular organ that is essential to the body, the brain! Science is coming a long way so fast, it is amazing. I can't wait to see how much further it goes!
ReplyDeleteI remember how scared you were considering you got bit like 1,000 times. I literally knew nothing about the Zika virus until your post. All I really knew was that pregnant women should be vary careful when traveling lol. Very informative post! Good job!
ReplyDeleteIts ironic that a disease that has caused so much fear and panic in the public can be used to save lives. I had no idea Zika could be used to treat cancer. Very informative and enlightening.
ReplyDeleteThis is the whole point of molecular biology. We hijack evolved biological systems to do our bidding.
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