The tumor paint is a compound derived from a toxin of scorpion venom which illuminates brain tumor tissues, helping neurosurgeons differentiate healthy brain tissues from cancerous ones.


Dr Olson while researching, found a scientist in the University of Alabama who was using the venom from the Israeli Deathstalker scorpion to target brain tumors. The venom seemed to attach to the tumors without affecting the healthy tissues.

Then Olson hypothesized thatsince the venom was binding with the cancerous cells alone, then attaching a molecular flashlight of sorts to the venom could make it easier for surgeons to distinguish the bad cells from the good.

According to Cnn, the first six grant applications Olson submitted to the national institutes of health to test his theory were denied for being too over-speculative, or over ambitious. But luck shone on him when a hospital administrator introduced him to Rhoda Altom.

Altom's daughter, Stewart, when she was 7 was diagnosed with a rare type of brain tumor. Doctors told Altom that in order to make sure that they get out all the cancer cells, they would have to take out a large portion of Stewart's brain.

Well since it was hard for any organization to sponsor a research to make a drug that only affect rare diseases, Olson's research could have ended but Altom offered to $5 million to get the research going.

During research, Jim and his team identified a peptide in the scorpion's venom and used it to produce the tumor paint. My guess is the molecular flashlight was bonded with the peptide from th scorpion's venom to make it glow when attached to a tumor and brought near infared light.

In testing thier new "paint", they grew brain tumor on a mouse's back and injected the paint into a tail vien. After about 15 - 20minutes, the tumor began lighting up. Obviously, the tumor paint was much more sensitive than an MRI and it didn't just work for brain cancer, but breast, colon, prostate and skin cancers.








[size=15pt]This article was gotten from here![/size]

Yeah