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Source: ONE News
Scientists are trying to determine whether a group of dwarfs in Ecuador could hold the clues to cure cancer.
For 22 years around 100 members of the Laron dwarfs community have been closely monitored by researchers from the University of Southern California, ABC reports.
They have discovered almost no cases of cancer or diabetes amongst the group, who all live in a remote village on the slopes of the Andes Mountains in the Loja province of southern Ecuador.
The Larons all suffer from mutated genes that lower their growth hormone activity, stunting their growth. However, the group's lifespan was no more than normal, researchers said.
The study, published in the Science Translational Medicine journal, suggests that blocking growth hormone activity in full grown adults, through prescription drugs or a special diet, could unlock the mystery of cancer.
Cell biologist Dr Valter Longo, who led the research team, says if the process worked and only had minor side effects, societies in the future could live without major illnesses.
Most of the dwarfs had Laron syndrome, meaning they are insensitive to growth hormone, and are no bigger than 1.1 metres tall.
While it's still not known whether the mutated gene was the reason they were almost cancer and diabetes-free, similar results have been seen in genetic work done with mice with a similar type of mutated gene.
Longo and his team are trying to seek approval for a clinical human trial.
