But there were chemotherapy options, notably a relatively new drug called Tarceva, which targets a gene mutation commonly found in lung cancers of female non-smokers.
This month anew scientific paper discussed the finding that small nematode worms of a certain species often carry a particular mitochondrial mutation the absence of 786 letters of code from a crucial gene.
First, when anew copy of copia inserts itself into a fly's genetic material, it may cause a deleterious mutation to a previously healthy gene (hence all the copia-related mutations detected by geneticists).
Meanwhile, PLX4032 from Roche and Plexxikon works via a different mechanism and shrinks tumors in a mind-boggling 80% of melanoma patients whose tumors have amutation called in a gene called BRAF, These results were published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.