In Israel, new discoveries are being made towards the cure for cancer. A common fat molecule which functions like a switch for cell growth has been identified in plants. Prof. Shaul Yalovsky of Tel Aviv University’s (TAU) Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants Department, who made the discovery, also suggests that this same switch may be able to turn off the process that leads to the growth of cancerous tumors in humans.

Although plants and animals are very different from each other, Yalovsky points out that both organisms share a surprising number of biological mechanisms. In plants, this fat molecule governs a group of proteins called ROPs that are responsible for cell growth.

Apparently, there is a counterpart for these cell-growth mechanisms in humans: proteins similar to plants’ ROPs that are involved in the healing of wounds, the development of nerve cells in the brain, and providing the chemical signals to tell cancer when to metastasize. As for a counterpart of the switch, Yalovsky points to a mechanism in humans responsible for regulating the immune response to pathogen invaders in the human body.

In laboratory experiments, Yalovsky, together with his research collaborators, Prof. Yoav Henis and Dr. Joel Hirsch of TAU’s Departments of Neurobiology and Biochemistry have been able to reshape plants, grow new tissues and respond to bacterial and viral invaders through the manipulation of this switch mechanism. With knowledge of how these proteins are manipulated, researchers believe they are getting closer to knowing how to turn off the ROP-like switch in humans, which may prevent the growth of tumors.

Discoveries like these that relate the workings of the human body with those of plants can open up a whole new avenue of ideas. Working more closely with what the body already has is an excellent alternative to the removal of tumors through surgery, and the irradiation of cancer cells with chemo therapy, which actually poisons the body.