Is The Cure For Cancer Hidden In A Sea Creature?

"The plague of our age."

This term is used for the cancer disease for which a cure has not been found yet, even with the help of advanced medical technologies and means. Cancer is, in short; the uncontrolled division and multiplication of the cells in the body due to an alteration in their DNAs.

In fact, our cells have preventive mechanisms in place against the alterations in the DNA. Sometimes these mechanisms do not work, and some cells multiply and huddle irrepressibly into cancerous tumors. Then some cancerous cells split from these tumors and are carried to the other parts of the body via the lymphatic system or circulatory system where they can continue to multiply. In this way, cancer can spread to the whole body.

Major factors that can cause cancer can be listed as; radiation, hazardous chemicals that enter the body, genetic disorders and viruses. As for the cancer treatments; surgical operation (removing cancerous cells via surgery), chemotherapy (killing off cancerous cells by administering medication), radiotherapy (killing off cancerous cells by applying appropriate amount of radiation to them), immunotherapy (reinforcing the immune system and administering medicine that would trigger the immune system to attack cancerous cells) are the primary treatment options. Also, alternative medicine can resort to alternative treatment methods such as stem cell transplantation.

The results of these treatment methods vary depending on the type and stage of the cancer.  However with most of them, other cells in the body are damaged too. For example, most of the chemotherapy medicines kill off the hair cells, and the cells located at the interior surface of gastrointestinal system, as well as rapidly multiplying cells such as bone marrow, thus causes severe side effects. Besides, these treatments have a negative impact on the kidney and liver functions as well.

In short, today there is no medicine or method that could wipe off cancerous cells 100% and not harm the body in the process. For this reason, scientists are looking for alternative solutions, and especially looking into the  living creatures. A recent research shows that a sea creature may be the solution to cure this tough disease. 

Australian scientists who conducted this research stated that some chemicals in sea snail eggs leads to 100% success in the reduction and elimination of cancer cells.

Karen Perrow from Wollongog University states, "The sea snails live in very harsh conditions and for this reason they are producing some kind of chemicals with protective mechanisms for themselves and their offspring."

In 2002, the researchers from Southern Cross and Wollongong Universities reported that they had isolated "N-alkylisatin" molecules, which they believed to contain the snail’s anti-cancer properties. Dr. Karen Perrow and her associates found out that the chemicals in the sea snail eggs killed the chemotherapy resistant cells in 48 hours. In addition to this, the success rate which was only 10% with chemotherapy medicines reached as high as 100% with the chemicals in the sea snail eggs. It is expected that the development of this chemical compound, which has not yet been experimented on humans and animals, will be effective on intestinal, breast and prostate cancers with the potential clinical applications. The studies make us think that the effective use of a proper medicine is expected to take 5-10 years. (http://www.euronews.com/2016/06/01/can-sea-snails-accelerate-a-cure-for-cancer)

As we examine the nature, we come across other similar exciting and promising information and solutions. A discipline called biomimetics examines substances, instruments and mechanisms sampled from the living creatures in the nature.  The scientific facts show us that the magnificent systems of the livings existed since the moment they first emerged.

As the technology and science advance, our knowledge will expand and new discoveries will be made reinforcing the truth of creation. God says in the Quran:

And in your creation and all the creatures He has spread about there are Signs for people with certainty. (Surah al-Jathiyya, 4)