Bacteria can shrink cancer cells STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
GENETICALLY modified “smart†bacteria injected into tumours can shrink growths and trigger an immune response that stops cancer spreading, tests in animals show.
The engineered bacteria exploit the vulnerability of solid tumours to infections. This vulnerability comes about because tumours evolve all kinds of tricks for evading immune system attack, from physically keeping out immune cells to releasing chemicals that tell the cells not to attack. But this leaves tumours open to infection by bacteria and viruses that would be rapidly wiped out elsewhere in the body.
The smart bacteria, created…
