Research done at the Canadian Light Source will help to advance the understanding the growth and spread of colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer in Canada.
Scientists from McGill University and Osaka University in Japan found a mutation in proteins from colon cancer cells that interact with another protein that is crucial to cancer growth.
Dr. Kalle Gehring from McGill University says they are excited because it explains how this protein works, that they have known for a long time was somehow involved in colon cancer growth.
He explains that understanding the growth and spread of this cancer is crucial in treating the disease, so this could help to refocus cancer drug development.

He adds that using the CLS on the University of Saskatchewan campus is important in all of their research, because the beamline takes pictures of protein and then they try to figure out their function.
It’s something they can do remotely, so they don’t have to travel, meaning they have been able to continue this aspect of their work during the pandemic.