Thiruvananthapuram: Turmeric has always been appreciated in Indian tradition for its medicinal properties. There has always been informed about its cancer-curing properties. Now a scientist from Kerala has proved it once again. Achieving a major breakthrough in the treatment of cancer, Lekha Dinesh Kumar has combined two techniques of RNA interference (RNAi) and nanotechnology. Due to this, such a bio drug is being made which is non-toxic and organic. This drug is fully capable of affecting the large intestine and breast cancer cells at specific locations.
Lekha, who worked as the Project Leader for Cancer Biology at CSIR’s Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology-CCMB, Hyderabad, said that the active constituent of turmeric, Curcumin, contains substantial amounts of Has anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and is ideal for oncology. Curcumin, along with other biological components, is used to ship bio drugs.
CSIR-Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) were collaborators in this research to be published in a science journal ‘Nanoscale’. In this treatment ‘gene-silencing approach’ or RNAi method is used. RNAi is a promising approach to targeted and focused therapy for chronic diseases such as cancer.
It is combined with nanotechnology. Thereby developing nano-carriers that target RNA and silence overactive genes. These overactive genes are responsible for tumors and cancer. This technology silences the selected genes. Lekha said that the lack of safe and effective delivery methods for RNAi molecules has been a major challenge. Which has stopped RNAi-based therapy from growing.
The bio-drug developed by Lekha is non-toxic and organic. The results proved that the nano-RNAi bio-drug formula effectively kills the tumor by affecting the targeted gene. In a pre-clinical study on rats, it was seen that after giving the drug, the life of the rats was increased by one-fourth. It ensures good longevity when compared to humans. A quarter increase in life would mean an increase of 20 to 25 years for humans. Lekha said that in the next phase, its clinical trial is to be done in humans.
