Metals from extraterrestrials can help people treat cancer

Iridium can kill cancer cells by poisoning it with oxygen atoms.

About 65 million years ago, an asteroid collided with Earth destroyed the life of dinosaurs. But scientists say this event is useful for us today in cancer treatment.

Specifically, a metal present on this asteroid is likely to target solid tumors . It turns oxygen molecules in cancer cells into single atomic oxygen, known for its extremely strong toxicity.

Moreover, this metal only works to target and kill cancer cells. It does not destroy healthy cells in the body.

Iridium metal.

The study was conducted in collaboration with British and Chinese scientists. They demonstrated that iridium - the second rare metal on Earth - could be used to kill cancer cells, by poisoning it with atomic oxygen.

At Warwich University and Sun Yat-sen University, scientists have created an iridium compound combined with some other organic substances. This compound can directly target cancer cells. When touched and penetrated into the cells, it turns the oxygen molecule into an atomic oxygen form, causing extremely strong toxicity.

This process is triggered by shining a laser, which can penetrate the skin, into the patient's cancer area. Light catalyzes the iridium compound, activating this metal to work and create atomic oxygen.

In the study published in Angewandte Chemie, scientists tested the properties of iridium with a lung cancer tumor model. Using this technique, they discovered that the iridium compound had invaded all layers of the tumor, indicating a therapeutic effect.

In contrast, when they conducted the same experiment on healthy cells, the iridium compound proved ineffective.

Iridium turns oxygen molecules into atomic oxygen, causing extremely strong toxicity.

"Platinum has been used in more than 50% of cancer chemotherapy," said researcher Peter Sadler of the University of Warwick. "The ability of other precious metals like iridium, helps provide drugs. Attack targeted cancer cells in completely new ways, and resisted their resistance while reaching safety with little side effects, currently being studied ".

International scientific cooperation can accelerate the discovery of new properties of iridium, Sadler added."Now is the time when iridium should be applied to medicine, so it would be more useful to create an asteroid in 66 million years ago , " he said.

Besides, using light to target cancer tumors - a technique called phototherapy - is becoming an effective and non-invasive treatment. Many patients today have developed drug resistance when using traditional chemotherapy, so alternative treatments like this can play an important role in the near future.

Iridium is a hard, gold-like but fragile metal, first discovered in 1803. It belongs to the same group of transition metals as platinum.Iridium is the most hard-to-corrode metal in the world and has a melting point at more than 2,400 ° C.

Iridium reserves on Earth are extremely small. But this metal is a common component of meteorites . A huge amount of Iridium has been found in the Earth's crust dating from about 66 million years ago. This suggests that scientists can get Iridium thanks to asteroids that crashed into the Earth causing the dinosaurs to become extinct.