Tumor Suppressor Gene In Flies May Provide Insights For Human Brain Tumors

In the fruit fly’s developing brain, stem cells called neuroblasts normally divide to create one self-renewing neuroblast and one cell that has a different fate. But neuroblast growth can sometimes spin out of control and become a brain tumor. Researchers at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore have found a tumor-suppressing protein in the fly’s brain, with a counterpart in mammals, that can apparently prevent brain tumors from forming.

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Filed under: Biology on June 25th, 2009