Watching cancer cells live could transform drug discovery

Bilkul Online

2 months ago

Bilkul Online | Sunday Special
New Delhi

A platform that lets researchers observe living cells on a continuous basis could transform drug discovery, reshape cancer research and precision medicine, according to experts on Saturday. Dr. Shyam Aggarwal, Chairperson, Department of Medical Oncology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, said that real-time observation technologies could help researchers better understand how cells respond to candidate drugs.

It could help fast track detection of subtle biochemical changes, and identify promising therapies more efficiently during preclinical research, he added. “Understanding precision oncology with comprehensive genome profiling (CGP) and minimal residual disease detection (MRD) will help physicians improve targeted personalised medicine for cancer patients,” Aggarwal said. An Indian-origin biotech entrepreneur Parmita Mishra, Founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Precigenetics that runs a platform to generate real-time biochemical information from living cells, said that “when researchers continuously measure how cells behave instead of relying on biological ‘autopsies,’ they may uncover insights that were previously impossible to observe.” “That has implications far beyond cancer, extending into immunology, neuroscience, rare diseases and regenerative medicine,” Mishra said.

“Unlike conventional laboratory techniques that often require cells to be stained, fixed or broken apart before analysis, the platform seeks to monitor living biology continuously, allowing scientists to study cellular behaviour over time rather than relying on isolated end-point measurements,” the statement said. Cancer drug development remains one of the most difficult areas of pharmaceutical research. Industry studies have consistently shown that the vast majority of oncology drug candidates entering clinical development ultimately fail before reaching patients.

Scientists increasingly attribute many failures to the inability of existing laboratory models to fully capture the complexity and dynamic behaviour of living cells. India reported an estimated 1.4 million new cancer cases in 2022 as per International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) data. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) projected that the country’s cancer burden will continue to rise over the coming decade. (image ians)