Researchers at ULB make leukaemia breakthrough
Researchers at Brussels’ ULB have made a discovery related to leukaemia that could be a game chancer in diagnosis and treatment.
Every day, researchers discover more and more about all different types of cancer, how to track them, and how to beat them. Recently, an important discovery out of Belgium has shed some light on how to tackle leukaemia.
The key to success can be found in our body’s very building blocks – our genetic information. The Belgian team led by Prof. François Fuks discovered a protein linked to ribonucleic acid (RNA). This protein, SRSF2, seems to be key to the development of this terrible blood cancer.
In up to 1 in 2 leukaemia cases, SRSF2 has mutated. This impacts the protein’s ability to read another protein called m5C, which seems to play a regulatory role when it comes to genetic information.
This discovery is exactly the sort of thing that makes Belgian researchers so innovative, contributing to the step-by-step triumph over cancer. Congratulations to the whole team for this incredible discovery!