Prof says fruit flies key to cancer research
By Carley Schwietzer
Lance Writer
September 7, 2010
After years of studying the genes of fruit flies, Dr. Andrew Swan, a cancer researcher and UWindsor assistant professor, has been granted $100,000 towards his research.
The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is used as a model system for studying how the cell cycle is regulated and modified in development. Swan was one of 62 lucky recipients of the Canadian Cancer Society Grant this year for his research.
Although fruit flies do not have the life span capacity to contract cancer, they do share similar proteins and two similar genes. “They are very important genes and we’re just starting to understand their roles," explains Swan, with the hope that his research will lead to improved cancer treatment methods.
“Meiosis involves two modified mitotic divisions without an intervening S-phase. It is the most complex and atypical of all cell divisions, and requires a major retooling of the cell cycle machinery that is as yet not well understood,” explains Swan. By understanding these complex cell cycles within female fruit flies, Swan hypothesizes that cancer cells can be spatially and temporally regulated in the same way.
Since 1929, the Canadian Cancer Society has been a non-profit organization that funds a variety of studies and experiments on numerous life threatening illnesses. Providing funding for critical breakthroughs, like Swan's, is their one of their main goals.
All funding that the society receives and provides to research is from the people in the community. Martin Kabat, CEO of the society's Ontario division maintains that "it is only through the generosity of our donors and volunteers that we are able to fund promising research, research led by scientists who are dedicated to finding ways to fight against cancer and defeat this terrible disease."
Dr. Andrew Swan is thankful about receiving the financial assistance he needs in developing his theories, “I appreciate this funding, as it will give us a better understanding of how cancer develops, which is important in determining how to find a cure,” said Swan. |
