Link: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/researchers-train-bacteria-to-consume-tumors-from-the-inside-out/

A research team led by scientists at the University of Waterloo, Ontario is developing a novel tool to treat cancer by engineering hungry bacteria to literally eat tumors from the inside out.

Key to the approach is a bacterium called Clostridium sporogenes, which is commonly found in soil and can only grow in environments with absolutely no oxygen.

The core of a solid, cancerous tumor is comprised of dead cells and is oxygen-free, making it an ideal breeding ground for the bacterium to multiply.

“Bacteria spores enter the tumor, finding an environment where there are lots of nutrients and no oxygen, which this organism prefers, and so it starts eating those nutrients and growing in size,” said Dr. Marc Aucoin, a chemical engineering professor at Waterloo. “So, we are now colonizing that central space, and the bacterium is essentially ridding the body of the tumor.”

There’s been so much mention of this guy I genuinely fast read the title as Trump instead of Tumor.

That'll do, too

Sorry to be so pedantic, but I’d like to see the scientific evidence

I’ve played this game b4.

I see absolutely no way this can backfire

Beautiful game that everyone should play at some point.

And, after pondering the difficulties of navigating the complex realities of life with no chances to try again, remember that it stores your history as a browser cookie.

That's a very specific bacteria to train but useful nonethless.

Theoretically it shouldn't. The bacteria should die once it reaches living cells which contain oxygen. The question is how does it kill the external living tumor cells

That's awesome! I'm sad Big Pharma will take it over and we'll never see it again.

There's another study from the same team about successfully modifying the species to resist oxygen "at key moments" lol

https://www.cambridgetoday.ca/local-news/waterloo-team-engineers-bacteria-to-eat-tumours-from-the-inside-out-11917469

This article has more specific details about the research. Not to be too reductive but quorum sensing is the mechanism that typically flips an infection from passive growth into "start killing this bitch we have the numbers now"

So what they think they've done is create a mechanism to lets them turn the oxygen resistance on and off, but what's going to happen is the cells that then mutate out of turning if off are going to be the simply superior organism.

I understand why they thought the mechanics check out. I don't understand why they think they can control all the variables outside of a lab.

seems only useful until your immune system destroys the bacteria limiting the efficacy of the treatment, they did the same with viruses.