Cancer breakthrough from enzyme discovery

Scientists in the US believe they may have come close to developing more effective drugs to treat cancers after a breakthrough has led to them partially unlocking the secret of an enzyme active in 80% of cancers. Telomerase, which adds multiple copies of DNA to the ends of chromosomes, is present in cells that multiply frequently but is turned off in most adults to prevent unneeded growth. Many cancers regain the ability to active telomerase and this allows them to unlimitedly replicate. The Gene Expression and Regulation Programme, based at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, has dec...