JUL 14, 2017

Using Bacteria to Kill Cancer Cells

WRITTEN BY: Brenda Kelley Kim

Salmonella is a dangerous bacteria that is often food borne and can kill you. It also seems to have anti-cancer abilities according to new research from the Cancer Research Center in Missouri. A strain of salmonella developed there can be injected into the blood stream and will make a bee line for tumor cells. What's even better is that the strain is non-toxic, so it doesn't harm healthy cells or cause food poisoning

Cancer cells that are targeted by this strain are low in oxygen and high in purine and this attracts the bacteria to the cancerous environment. There has been work at other research centers on the connection between salmonella and cancer cells, including a lab at Duke University. By genetically altering the bacteria it functions as not only a tumor killer, but it can be used to carry chemotherapy drugs directly to tumors as well.