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DNA medical mystery -- OKLAHOMA CITY -- For nearly 30 years Dr. Charles Esmon has been on the cutting edge of modern medicine at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. With the help of his colleagues Dr. Florea Lupu, and Dr. Jun Xu, Dr. Esmon has now discovered a simple protein connected to human DNA known as histones can become poisonous during a traumatic injury such as a car accident or gun shot. |
October 26, 2009 |
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OKLAHOMA CITY -- For nearly 30 years Dr. Charles Esmon has been on the cutting edge of modern medicine at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. With the help of his colleagues Dr. Florea Lupu, and Dr. Jun Xu, Dr. Esmon has now discovered a simple protein connected to human DNA known as histones can become poisonous during a traumatic injury such as a car accident or gun shot.
When the cells are damaged during the injury, histones, which cause DNA strands to spiral, are released and destroy other cells until a person's organs start to fail.
"As the disease progresses, if you will, it's a little like an atomic bomb going off and 'bang' you just lose everything," says Dr. Esmon
By identifying the problem, doctors are now testing antibodies in pre-clinical trials and say the results are promising.
If everything goes according to plan, Dr. Esmon believes a drug could be on the market in the next five to ten years.
Along with saving the lives of car accident victims and soldiers, Esmon believes other medical mysteries such as Cancer, could be solved.
"This one perhaps is a real biggie," says Dr. Esmon. "We don't know for sure, but this could have ramification as respect to heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure."
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