Zimbabwean Scientists Claim Discovery Of Alzheimer’s, Melanoma Cancer Treatment
Zimbabwean scientists have announced a potential breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and melanoma, a type of skin cancer, reported ZimLive.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive neurological disorder that primarily impacts memory, thinking, and behavior, and is the leading cause of dementia.
Professor Simon Mukwembi, the lead scientist on the project, stated that through a computer system, they have named Rutava, researchers identified a chemical compound that specifically targets malignant cancer cells without affecting healthy cells in the body.
This research was conducted in collaboration with the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Johannesburg in South Africa.
At a news conference in Harare on Thursday, Professor Mukwembi said that the study focused exclusively on treatments for melanoma and Alzheimer’s disease. He said:
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The good thing that Rutava does is you can recalibrate it for other diseases. So, for the cancer, we’ve got quite a number of cancers, right?
What we have worked on right now is melanoma skin cancer. But of course, we can extend out to sort out all the other cancers without difficulty because we now have the innovative technology.
… We also developed, using the Rutava, a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.
Professor Mukwembi described Rutava as a “digital technology powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced mathematical formulas.”
He explained that this innovative technology has the potential to significantly reduce the time required to transition from discovery to drug development, shortening the process from several years to just a few months. He added:
I’m pleased to say we used Rutava to discover drugs for the treatment of different diseases. First, there is cancer. We’ve got a compound that can target only cancerous cells in the human body.
Currently, the difficulty is that the available cancer drugs target both the cancerous cells and the healthy normal cells. Rutava only targets the cancerous cells.
About 10 million people died of cancer in 2020 and the same number in 2023. So you can see the market for the cancer drug is huge the world over.
Prof Mukwembi, who is the chairman of the Harare Institute of Public Health (HIPH), was flanked by the institute’s principal Dr Amos Marume and its registrar Dr Isaac Mutingwende.
He expressed confidence that their technology could potentially cure cancer and Alzheimer’s disease but emphasized the need to conduct clinical trials to validate their findings.
Other scientists involved in the project include Dr Eloise van der Merwe, Professor Farai Nyabadza, Professor Yasien Sayed, Professor Betsie Jonck, Professor Eunice Mphako-Banda, Dr Ronnie Maartens, Moster Zhangazha, Neo Padi, and Thabelo Mulenga.
Dr Marume stated that although their discovery will be patented, their share of future profits may be diluted due to the need for funding to develop the drugs and treatments.
More: Pindula News
