Keeping up the intact DNA is vital for all organisms, and life as we know of it would not exist. Now, we know it is not black or white, but that DNA damage can also lead to imperfection leading to various diseases. Ageing is an example of a process that will damage our DNA and as a result we can get diseases. We have known for a long time that DNA damage can result in mutations causing cancer, but emerging information show that damage to DNA is also critical in the development of other diseases. To combat disease the cell has developed a complex DNA damage response and repair machinery. Today, Thomas Helleday and Steve Jackson describe in a new perspective published in the journal Science how targeting DNA repair can be very useful in treatment of cancer and other diseases. The scientific community is embrassing this is novel strategy, which may hold a lot of promise for the future. The Helleday laboratory is fully committed to understanding of the complexity of the DNA repair machinery in order to find novel strategies to combat disease.
Prisregn över Helledaylaboratoriets Sean Rudd
Vår postdoc Sean Rudd har hittills haft en riktigt bra