WITH the help of a little genetic tinkering, a humble soil bacterium could become the latest recruit in the war on cancer.
It is now over a century since physician William Coley noticed that some of his patients with bacterial infections were able to fight off cancer. The reasons why this sometimes works have never been clear, though it possibly involves stimulating the immune system (Â鶹´«Ã½, 2 November 2002, p 54).
Later experiments inspired by this work, however, showed that Clostridium bacteria thrive in cancerous tissues. They need low-oxygen conditions, and the tightly packed cells and poor blood…
