An exposure therapy has been suggested by the researchers that a piece of noncoding DNA or GNG12-ASI helps prevent cells from turning cancerous. ‘Junk’ DNA, found in between genes, plays an important role in suppressing cancer.
Study findings shows that human genome contains three metres of DNA, in which only 2 percent contains genes that code for proteins and the rest has been recorded as RNA, transcribed from a stretch of DNA that doesn’t code for a protein. As the tumor grows, cancer cells get crowded and start to break away from tumor. These cells change their shapes, burrow through tissues to the bloodstream where they migrate to other parts of the body. This is how the cancer spread and the process is known as metastasis.
The non-coding RNA fragment maintains healthy cells with two mechanisms. One is that it regulates the levels of one of its neighbouring genes that involved in cell replication and the other way to secure cells is suppressing a network of genes that prepares for spread and prepare cells to change their shape, explained researchers.
Adele Murrell in Department of Biology & Biochemistry at University of Bath in UK has stated, “In our study we’ve identified that a strand of non-coding RNA prevents the growth of a switch getting stuck and suppresses the spread of cancer”. Further she stated,” The number of cells in our body are balanced by the level at which cells replicate and replace the ones that die. Sometimes the switches that control this growth get stuck in the ‘on’ position, which can lead to cancer”.
