Were there any other antibiotics other than Methylglyoxal that you considered using in conjunction with radiation for chemotherapy that could be effective?
We did not consider using any other antibiotics for this project in particular, but I am sure there are many that would be worth looking into as potential chemotherapies.
Hi Jacob! Really cool work! I never would have thought of testing a good cancer drug by testing how well it kills something. On that note, would there need to be more tests done to make sure it is not to toxic to humans? Is the toxicity of these drugs why people feel terrible when they undergo chemo?
There would be many tests done to find toxicity levels before it would be used on humans. These test would probably include testing the compound on human cell cultures and testing the compound on animal subjects, likely mice. The ability of chemotherapies to kill cells is definitely part of the reason why they make cancer patients feel very ill.
You said methylglyoxal has shown success as an antitumor agent in other studies. Has it been tested much by other groups as a chemotherapy agent or is the first time?
Specifically, we used the third instar larvae of fruit flies as the model organism. They imitate cancerous tumors due to the high replication rate of their cells. Also, they are easy to breed and cheap to work with, making them an easy model organism to do research on.
To be honest Hannah, I know very little about the actual manuka flowers, but a quick google search shows that they mainly originate in New Zealand and Australia. I do not know if there are other flowers that contain MGO.
The benefit of it being FDA approved lies in the fact that it is then easier for it to be approved for another medicinal purpose, such as use as a chemotherapy. Generally, FDA approval takes a huge amount of time, but if it is already approved for one purpose then it is easier to get approved for another.
Unfortunately, I do not know much about the sourcing of manuka honey, so I do not have an answer to whether there are similar flowers with the same active ingredient.
Were there any other antibiotics other than Methylglyoxal that you considered using in conjunction with radiation for chemotherapy that could be effective?
We did not consider using any other antibiotics for this project in particular, but I am sure there are many that would be worth looking into as potential chemotherapies.
Hi Jacob! Really cool work! I never would have thought of testing a good cancer drug by testing how well it kills something. On that note, would there need to be more tests done to make sure it is not to toxic to humans? Is the toxicity of these drugs why people feel terrible when they undergo chemo?
Sara,
There would be many tests done to find toxicity levels before it would be used on humans. These test would probably include testing the compound on human cell cultures and testing the compound on animal subjects, likely mice. The ability of chemotherapies to kill cells is definitely part of the reason why they make cancer patients feel very ill.
You said methylglyoxal has shown success as an antitumor agent in other studies. Has it been tested much by other groups as a chemotherapy agent or is the first time?
Nicholas,
I am not sure if methylglyoxal has been tested as a potential chemotherapy previously, but it has been shown to kill leukemia cells in other studies.
Why were fruit flies used as a model organism? Are they similar enough to cancerous cells in humans?
Hey Gabe,
Specifically, we used the third instar larvae of fruit flies as the model organism. They imitate cancerous tumors due to the high replication rate of their cells. Also, they are easy to breed and cheap to work with, making them an easy model organism to do research on.
Where are manuka flowers found? Also, are there any other flowers with similar MGO levels?
To be honest Hannah, I know very little about the actual manuka flowers, but a quick google search shows that they mainly originate in New Zealand and Australia. I do not know if there are other flowers that contain MGO.
Great presentation! However, how does MGO being an FDA approved antibiotic promote the potential for this drug as a chemotherapy?
Hey Katie,
The benefit of it being FDA approved lies in the fact that it is then easier for it to be approved for another medicinal purpose, such as use as a chemotherapy. Generally, FDA approval takes a huge amount of time, but if it is already approved for one purpose then it is easier to get approved for another.
Are there any other similar flowers?
Unfortunately, I do not know much about the sourcing of manuka honey, so I do not have an answer to whether there are similar flowers with the same active ingredient.