Comparing the Connections Between Cancer and Viruses with Dr. Richard Allen White III

Dr. Richard Allen White III is an Assistant Professor with the College of Computing and Informatics at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. Dr. White describes himself as a computational and molecular virologist working on the systems aspect of ecosystems. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of RAW Lab in Concord, North Carolina that is developing a repository of genetic data on the global virosphere.

Click on play to learn:

The difference between viruses and cancer.
How viruses may cause cancer.
Why eliminating some viruses could eliminate many types of cancers.
What therapies look promising in the fight against cancer.

Cancer is many diseases with different causes. DNA and RNA viruses have the capability to cause some types of cancer in the human body. Dr. White is conducting studies of the links between viruses and cancer with a goal of finding possible targeted therapies for treating virus caused cancers.

Six viruses are currently being evaluated for the development of new types of cancer fighting therapies: Epstein-Barr virus, human papilloma virus, hepatitis B virus, and human herpes virus-8 are DNA viruses that may cause the development of human cancers. Two RNA viruses may contribute to human cancers: human T lymphotrophic virus type 1 and hepatitis C viruses.

The RAW Lab is involved in the search for possible bacteriophage therapy for multi-drug resistant bacteria and produce universal antivirals for RNA viruses. The lab is using synthetic biology to overcome human viruses and other RNA viruses such as Influenza and Henipavirus.

To learn more visit:

cci.uncc.edu/directory/richard-allen-white-iii

https://rawlab.org

@raw9371 (Twitter)

Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C