The Research Evangelist

Meet Johnathan Whetstine, PhD.   Cancer cells that stop responding to treatment (drug resistance) are a common cause of cancer deaths. Researchers are trying to understand how to treat resistance, and/or prevent it in the quest for the next generation of cancer therapies that can save lives. One such researcher, Johnathan Whetstine, PhD and his team in the Whetstine Laboratory at the Mass General Center for Cancer Research is studying how cancer cells become drug-resistant. They recently uncovered a protein that generates specific DNA fragments containing genes that cause cancer cells to become resistant to chemotherapy. This allows replicating cancer cells to grow and defend themselves against previously effective treatments. We all know how devious cancer cells are in trying to outsmart treatments. The Whetstine Laboratory’s discovery was the first of its kind, and provides a new way to understand how cancer cells change their DNA content and potentially acquire the abili