Word: wicks
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...Science article is Wick's third report in a year on his research. Wick earlier demonstrated the toxicity of the more soluble methyl ester form of L-dopa on forms of mouse cancer...
...therapy is unusual because it employs a substance naturally occurring in the cancerous cells. This method is part of what Wick called a "rational approach to chemotherapy," in which researchers try to kill cancerous cells without harming normal cells in the body...
...Wick said that the first step is to identify a chemical trait unique to the cancerous cells such as the presence of L-dopa. Both melanoma and neuroblastoma are jet-black tumors due to the pigment-producing abilities of their host cells, he said...
...Wick decided to "choke the cell" with an overdose of L-dopa--taking what he called "sort of an educated guess," Wick said he believed L-dopa was likely to act only on the nerve and skin pigment cells, and thought it was probably non-toxic to other cells in the body...
Scientists do not know how an overdose of L-dopa kills the cancerous cells, but Wick suggested in the Science article that the chemical may inhibit the copying process of DNA, the code of life necessary for new cells to form and grow. Wick believes that an excessive amount of L-dopa may inactivate the key chemical needed for putting together copies...