Cancer Treatment & Biotechnology

According to the World Health Organization, each year 15 million to 16 million new cancer cases emerge within the global population. In effect, 12 percent of the deaths that occur worldwide result from some form of cancer. Biotechnology research is one of the many fields working to develop treatments and cures for this disease.

Medical Biotechnology

• The field of biotechnology specializes in merging science with biology to develop new products and methods for specific purposes. According to the United Nations University, medical biotechnology focuses on developing new medicines and treatment approaches by using technology to understand and enhance biological processes and materials. Technological developments give rise to new methods for diagnosing and treating disease using new specialized equipment, such as scanners, monitors and probes. As an approach toward cancer treatment, research studies can examine the biological processes that give rise to cancerous cells using DNA technologies.

Function

• Cancerous formations start out within the workings of the cell. Genetic mutations give rise to abnormal cell division processes that produce tumor formations. According to the United Nations University, biotechnology studies work to understand how genetic predispositions take on cancerous characteristics by examining the chemical interactions that take place within these cells. The use of human genome models provides a working blueprint of DNA gene expression within cell structures. Currently, researchers have identified nearly 300 known gene mutations that can trigger cancerous formations in the body.

Cell Signaling

• To observe the intricate structures and processes carried out within cell walls, biotechnology researchers use specialized tools that compare chemical reactions in normal cells with those that take place in mutated, cancerous cells. According to the United Nations University, cell signaling processes entail the specific chemical pathways that trigger the DNA transcription processes that give rise to mutations. Transcription processes take place when RNA materials carry out the instructions contained within the DNA of a cell. This involves the actual manufacturing process responsible for building cell structures as well as cell division processes. Information obtained from tracking cell signaling processes can be used to predict potential cancer cell outbreaks and identify possible risk factors.

Gene Expression

• Part of understanding which chemical pathways give rise to cancerous cells is knowing which DNA genes trigger the chemical pathway. To figure this out, biotechnologists examine how the various genes contained in a DNA molecule work together to create the signal pathways within a cell, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Once a particular gene is identified as the cause, scientists can alter or block its signaling pathway. Information gathered from these studies can be applied toward developing treatment therapies designed to target specific chemical pathways within cancerous cells.

Gene Suppression

• Gene-suppression techniques involve altering how RNA molecules carry out a cell's genetic instructions. Biotechnology methods employ an RNA interference gene type that's capable of shutting down a particular gene's instructions and its resulting chemical processes in a cancerous cell, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Another exploratory approach to understanding gene suppression effects extracts particular genes from a cell's DNA material. This approach uses living organisms--like mice--to observe the effects had on cancerous cells once a particular gene is removed. Information obtained from these methods can help identify target areas within a cell, which may suggest potential drug therapies.