UBC graduate student finds ‘start/stop switch’ for retroviruses

Published in Nature, February 2010, doi:10.1038/nature08858

Danny Leung. Lab of Dr. Matt Lorincz, Molecular Epigenetics Research Group, Department of Medical Genetics.

A UBC doctoral candidate has discovered a previously unknown mechanism for silencing retroviruses, segments of genetic material that can lead to fatal mutations in a cell’s DNA. The findings, published today in the journal Nature, could lead to new cancer treatments that kill only tumour cells and leave healthy surrounding tissue unharmed.