Blog Post Image: Small bits of genetic material fight cancer’s spread

Researchers at Princeton University have found that microRNAs — small bits of genetic material capable of repressing the expression of certain genes — may serve as both therapeutic targets and predictors of metastasis, or a cancer’s spread from its initial site to other parts of the body. In this image, breast cancer cells (right) spread toward the hindlimb bone (left), using the host’s own bone-destroying cells (osteoclasts) to continue their advance. (Image courtesy of Yibin Kang, Department of Molecular Biology)