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How snake venom could fight cancer

Dr. Mackessy with a snake


September 07, 2018

Biology Professor, Steve Mackessy, studies the potential of using snake venom to fight cancer cells. “We started working with several rattlesnakes to isolate a particular small compound from the venom that doesn’t kill cancer cells, but instead causes them not to disperse and metastasize through the body,” he continued. "That's where cancers can become particularly dangerous as they spread… away from a tumor site and then spread throughout the’ body”  (9news, 2018)

Read his story in UNC News

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