The secret of a group of Spanish scientists has been to study the defense mechanisms and proteins called CRISPR-Cas of 59 bacteria that lived on earth thousands of years ago. “If we want to find new knowledge, new drugs and new therapeutic strategies, we have to keep looking in bacteria,” says one of the experts in this project, Lluís Montoliu.
This group of scientists has analyzed the immune system of these unknown microorganisms and have found that these CRISPR-Cas are capable of inactivating malignant genes. “There are many diseases that can be treated by inactivating a gene,” said this scientist. And here would be some types of cancer.
The way to do it would be through a mechanism copy for which these bacteria have fought all kinds of viruses for so many years. Thus, they could create, for example, more effective antivirals or new drugs for common diseases. But first, they work with mice to validate the safety and efficacy of these treatments, explains Montoliu.
Experts are confident that by unraveling the functioning of these proteins, genetic studies can be carried out to detect early Alzheimer’s, osteoarthritis or diabetes and, likewise, create new drugs to combat them. “Or to fight, for example, against COVID,” he adds. At the moment, they are waiting to carry out human trials, but they assure that they have in their hands one of the best tools to modify DNA and correct genetic mutations.
Source: Lasexta
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