Mole rats are small rodents, predominantly leading an underground lifestyle. They may carry the key to creating powerful cancer drugs. These mammals have an immunity to malignant diseases. Scientists from the Haifa University in Israel have been struggling to solve this riddle for 16 years.
Israeli researchers believe that the cells of mole rats, immune to cancer, can help people in the treatment of tumors, which take lives of 8 million people worldwide each year. The scientists have studied mole rats for 16 years, and during this period, they managed to remove the substance secreted by their cells, making it suitable for other living organisms and humans. The substance is capable of destroying cancer in mammals.
The study’s author, Professor Aaron Avivi, is going to present his findings in London. He said that he and his colleagues have been watching mole rats for many years, but none of these rodents has ever gotten sick with any type of cancer. That is why mole rats live 20 years longer than other rodents. The fact that these animals live underground made their metabolism go through a significant evolution.
The scientists never observed mole rats develop cancer themselves; neither could they artificially cause a malignant disease in the rodents, no matter how they tried. Revealing the molecular mechanisms behind this amazing phenomenon can and should lead to new methods of prevention and treatment of tumors in humans. Some experts believe that these methods will save millions of lives
