Using Crispr-Cas9 to find vulnerable oral cancer genes for a potential cure

A man prunes branches on a tree next to a section of the Ming Dynasty City Wall in Beijing. If one imagines a cancer cell as a tree made out of genes, then its easy to see that the gene that needs to be targeted to kill off the cancer is the one that makes up the trunk, not one of the branches. Photo: Reuters

Certain cancers seem to have a predilect-ion for Asians.

Take, for example, oral cancer; Prof Dr Cheong Sok Ching says that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), oral cancer is responsible for 11% of cancer deaths in Asia, compared to 4% in the rest of the world.