Issue | April 2020 | Exercise for Cancer | The Scientist Magazine®

Features

Cancer Researchers Use Evolution to Target Drug Resistance

Catherine Offord | Apr 1, 2020 | 10+ min read

New therapeutic approaches in oncology aim to manipulate or block cancer’s adaptation to treatment.

Bacteria as Living Microrobots to Fight Cancer

Simone Schuerle and Tal Danino | Apr 1, 2020 | 10+ min read

Autonomous, living microrobots that seek and destroy cancer are not as futuristic as one might imagine, thanks to a fusion of robotics and synthetic biology.

Regular Exercise Helps Patients Combat Cancer

Bente Klarlund Pedersen | Apr 1, 2020 | 10 min read

Studies point to a role for physical activity in fighting malignancies, improving treatment outcomes, and fostering overall health in patients.

Contributors

Meet some of the people featured in the April 2020 issue of The Scientist.

Editorial

Singing the Praises of Prevention

Ben Franklin was right. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Speaking of Science

Ten Minute Sabbatical

Take a break from the bench to puzzle and peruse.

Critic at Large

Opinion: We Still Lack Evidence that Cannabis Treats Cancer Pain

Only an equal mixture of THC and CBD has been adequately tested, and it failed to alleviate pain in cancer patients.

Notebook

Forest Fungi Ride Out Wildfires by Hiding Inside Plants

Researchers uncover the “body-snatching” tactics of fungi that flourish immediately after wildfires.

Flu Shot Ignites Immune Attack Against Cancer in Mice

Injecting the seasonal flu vaccine directly into clumps of malignant cells recruits immune cells to confront the cancer.

Colon Cancer Uses a Regenerative Playbook to Metastasize

A study finds similarities between cells that heal wounds and those that lead deadly cancerous invasions.

Laser-Triggered Nanobubbles Blast a Path into Biofilms

Researchers could one day use the method to deliver antibiotics to topical wounds infected by hard-to-treat masses of bacteria.

Modus Operandi

Precision Membrane Puncture Enables Efficient Cell Transfection

A device for piercing individual holes in cell membranes allows vector-free DNA delivery while maintaining cell viability.

The Literature

A Trick that Helps Horses and Cattle Avoid Metastatic Cancer

Researchers find connective tissue has a crucial role to play in whether cancer cells metastasize.

Zika as Cancer Buster?

By infecting glioblastoma cells but not healthy brain tissue, some form of the virus could serve a therapeutic purpose.

CRISPR Quashes Cancer in Mice

Gene editing can knock out genes crucial to cervical tumor cells’ survival, researchers report.

Profile

Cracking Down on Cancer: A Profile of Owen Witte

Through his studies on cancer-causing viruses, the University of California, Los Angeles, professor has helped develop lifesaving treatments.

Scientist to Watch

Hadiyah-Nicole Green Targets Cancer With Lasers

Spurred by family tragedy, the medical physicist wants to treat cancer in a new way.

Bio Business

Natural Killer Cell Therapies Catch Up to CAR T

There’s a new cell-based cancer immunotherapy on the block.

Reading Frames

Did Human Evolution Include a Semi-Aquatic Phase?

A recent book outlines fossil evidence supporting the controversial hypothesis.

Foundations

Ideal Patients, 1896–Present

Advances in imaging technology over the last century have allowed increasingly sophisticated glimpses into the ancient processes of mummification.

Infographics

Infographic: Researchers Take Aim at Cancer Evolution

Strategies to trick, manipulate, and direct the evolution of tumors

Infographic: Building Bacteria to Fight Cancer

Researchers are engineering microbes to deliver therapeutics specifically to tumors, maximizing the treatments’ efficacy while minimizing side effects.