Using DNA science to control CML, Brian Druker
Interviewee: Brian Druker. Brian Druker talks about how the drug he designed targets the molecular cause of CML. (DNAi Location: Applications > Genes and medicine > Drug design > Brian Druker >Using DNA science to control disease)
None of what we do could be done without DNA science so the Gleevecâ„¢ targets a protein called BCR-ABL and this BCR-ABL protein belongs to a family of enzymes that regulate cell growth. It comes about because of 2 pieces of DNA exchanging segments. So it's a genetic disorder. It's something that people pick up, it's not inherited, it's something that people pick up in their bone marrows during their lifetime in one blood cell. Two pieces of DNA rearranged create this abnormal protein it's sort of like an accelerator of a car getting stuck on telling cells to grow continuously and they continue to grow and divide causing leukemia so it's directly related to DNA. What we've done, DNA as you know makes RNA makes protein and it's this protein that drives the growth of the leukemia cells. We shut down this protein, we shut down this leukemia and when these cells die the genetic abnormality in those cells goes away too.
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15525. How Gleevec works to alleviate symptoms of myeloid leukemia, 3D animation with basic narration
View the animation to find out how the drug Gleevecâ¢ inhibits the molecular cause of chronic myeloid leukemia.
Brian Druker reflects on the importance of understanding the causes of cancer for developing new treatments.
Brian Druker talks about the drug he developed as a turning point in the war on cancer.
Brian Druker credits the drug company Novartis with recognizing the importance of Gleevec and accelerating the development and approval process.
A mutation that gives rise to the Philadelphia chromosome gives rise to leukemia.
View the animation to learn about the Philadelphia chromosome, the abnormal chromosome that causes chronic myeloid leukemia.
Brian Druker talks about how Gleevec has restored patients' hope for the future.
Professor Charles Sawyer explains that CML stands for chronic myeloid leukemia, which is a blood cancer and it is different from many cancers because it starts very slowly and patients when they're first diagnosed don't have many symptoms.
Bud recounts receiving the diagnosis that he had chronic myeloid leukemia.
Yvonne, Bud's wife, talks about the first day of the clinical trials in June of 1998.