Revolutionary Cancer Update: Sharks Can Cure You

Those sharks in the oceans that are gnashing their teeth at you might even be your friends, whether they like it or not, according to new research by the University of Aberdeen and Irish pharmaceutical company, Almac Discovery.

The cure to cancer is stoked by the shark's "variable new antigen receptors (VNARs) and antibody-like binding proteins found in their immune systems, according to discovery. The VNARs bind quickly with the drugs, so they automatically become "ideal drug delivery vessels."

The proteins not only bind to cancerous tissues but also also enter tumors, after which they release a "warhead of anti-cancer drugs". More interestingly, the drugs from these proteins will not impact non-cancerous tissues.

The product that is called soloMERsTM, has been given a patent in the United States.

"We are always looking for novel science to drive the next steps in drug development and we feel that the soloMERsTM concept could be the next scientific step forward in drug conjugate approaches," remarked Almac Discovery President, Dr. Stephen Barr, in a news release, according to abdn.

Earlier, researchers have always found that sharks live for more than a 100 years, according to kxan. Dr. Carl Luer, one of America's foremost researchers in the subject, said that sharks rarely fall ill. "Sharks have a low incidence of disease, in general, and what's interesting is they have a low incidence of cancer," said Luer.

Hence, their immune systems are powerful.

"We've tried to give them cancer, and we've not been able to do that," said Luer.

By removing cells from a shark's immune system, he understood that it was secreting a compound that blocked the growth of human cancer cells.

"We want to be able to get to the point where we can understand what these compounds are so we can move into animal studies," said Luer.