| Secrets of Sharks Unlocked to Save Lives |
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Thursday, 19 June 2008 New technology pioneered by Victorian scientists is turning sharks into life savers, Premier John Brumby announced today at BIO 2008 in San Diego, California. Mr Brumby said scientists at La Trobe University were pioneering a process using the immune system of sharks in the fight against diseases such as malaria, cancers and rheumatoid arthritis. “Victorian scientists have created a new process to extract genes from shark blood and modifying them in laboratories by adding proteins causing random mutations,” Mr Brumby said. “These mutations mimic the way the body’s immune system works, creating antibodies that can be stored in a test tube and further modified to target specific diseases. “The stored antibodies are on hand for scientists to search for the antibodies that are best to target certain diseases. “Through this process, sharks are helping to create an antibody library to fast-track breakthroughs in the diseases that attack immune systems.” Antibodies are disease-fighting proteins in the blood created by the immune system to tackle bacteria, viruses and other foreign substances. Sharks have a sub-class of very small antibodies – the smallest in the animal kingdom – in addition to their normal antibodies, which many believe are a carry-over from the longevity of the species. The very small antibodies are more chemically robust and biologically stable than the conventional antibodies used in therapeutic treatments against cancer and other human immune diseases. “When I became Premier, I nominated as tackling cancer and other preventable diseases as one of my key priorities,” Mr Brumby said. “Breakthroughs like the extraction of these shark genes and antibodies will no doubt assist in boosting survivability rates in diseases like cancer in Victoria and worldwide.” Mr Brumby said there was a multi-billion-dollar global market for antibody treatments and Victoria’s shark gene extraction breakthrough had attracted significant interest at BIO 2008. “What sets this process apart from other technologies that use antibodies is that it does not involve immunising sharks, which is kinder to the sharks and safer for scientists,” he said. “Other technologies rely on biologist-shark handlers getting into tanks and handling sharks to immunise them to develop the antibodies – needless to say an extremely risky procedure.” The shark antibody breakthrough is the next step in the work of La Trobe molecular biologist Associate Professor Mick Foley and his CSIRO colleague Dr Stuart Nuttall. In 2004, Professor Foley and Dr Nuttall discovered that shark antibodies were highly effective in killing malarial parasites. They revealed that a shark antibody has a long finger-like loop that projects from the surface and binds into a cavity on the target protein. In malaria, this disrupts the normal signalling chain of command and prevents the malaria protein from invading human red blood cells. The scientists have since completed many studies showing that if a shark antibody selected from the library binds to a malaria protein and is then put into a malaria parasite, it kills the parasite. |
