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Addressing the problem

According to the World Health Organization, cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and its burden is only predicted to increase by approximately 60% over the next two decades, further straining health systems, people and communities.

The emperor of all maladies

Siddhartha Mukherjee after examining leukemia cells from a woman who had been dead for 30 years, came to a sinister realization. Unlike their host, these cells were "immortal". That’s why he referred to cancer as "the emperor of all maladies".

Just thinking that cancer cells, despite their distinct morphology, essentially represent uncontrollably multiplying healthy cells, Mukherjee wonders if we can even beat a disease that is a distorted version of ourselves.

What is IRIS?

IRIS is iGEM IOANNINA’s solution to combating the Emperor of all Maladies. It is a genetically engineered bacterial machine performing Photodynamic therapy [PDT] for the treatment of solid tumors.

IRIS’s biggest advantage is that it doesn’t need external light to perform PDT. Solving the main obstacle of classic PDT, penetrability of visible light in the human body, IRIS induces the expression of luciferase, an enzyme that reacts with its’ substrate, luciferin, to unleash the light within.

A little bit of mythology...

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Iris is the daughter of the gods Thaumas and Electra, the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods, a servant to the Olympians and especially Queen Hera.

The ancient Greek nounἾρις means both the rainbow and the halo of the Moon.

She is also known as one of the goddesses of the sea and the sky. Iris links the gods to humanity. She travels with the speed of wind from one end of the world to the other and into the depths of the sea and the underworld.

A little bit of history...

The word cancer comes from the ancient Greek word 'καρκίνος, meaning 'crab' and 'tumor'. Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen, among others,noted the similarity of crabs to some tumors with swollen veins.

The word was introduced in English in the modern medical sense around 1600. Cancers comprise a large family of diseases that involve abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. With that being said, cancer treatment is one of the greatest challenges of the scientific community.