One super drug, three diseases

29 September 2014 - 10:06 By © The Telegraph
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Cancer cell. File photo.
Cancer cell. File photo.
Image: Gallo Images/Thinkstock

A wonder drug that will fight cancer, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes could be developed within 10 years according to scientists.

London's Imperial College has discovered how to turn off an enzyme responsible for many incurable diseases.

The NMT enzyme stops damaged cells from dying and, instead, speeds up their replication, causing cancer. It can be responsible for cancers becoming resistant to chemotherapy.

It is also known to be involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers have identified more than 100 proteins that the enzyme interacts with and have discovered a molecule that acts like an "off switch".

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